


The Ruby Ritual

by mzingalwa



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Go read it there rather than here, Reader controlled story, This is basically an advertisement for the main tumblr blog
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-10
Updated: 2017-03-04
Packaged: 2018-07-22 17:43:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 30
Words: 82,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7448218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mzingalwa/pseuds/mzingalwa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An alternate universe remnant where Hunters have to contend with demons and those who summon them in addition to the Grimm. You, the readers, are given control of Ruby Rose. Help her survive and become the hero that she has always dreamed of being.</p>
<p>This is an AO3 mirror of the parts of the story that I am currently posting up on a tumblr blog. You can read the whole story up to the latest update, and send in commands for Ruby, at "http://therubyritual.tumblr.com/".</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 0000 => 0003

Your name is Ruby Rose. You have just been kidnapped.

You’re kind of embarrassed about the whole thing. After all you are a huntress, albeit one still in training, so getting blindsided by someone outside the ice-cream store is going to be a real black mark on your record if you don’t manage to get out of this situation on your own.

Assuming you can get out of it at all.

You take a moment to review your situation. You are currently in the back of a moving van, and both your hands and your feet have been zip-tied together. You also feel kind of drowsy, so they might have drugged you with something after they knocked you out. Fortunately it seems that the “toxin resistance” part of your training is beginning to pay off, so you shouldn’t worry about your movement being impaired once you get free. There’s not much light, but you can see that there doesn’t seem to be anything in here to help you cut yourself loose.

If you were to take a guess as to who abducted you it was probably some sort of demon summoning group, since statistically such groups are responsible for about three out of four abductions. Their ritual probably called for ‘virgin blood’, so they decided to grab the first young girl they saw, ignoring the fact that 'virgin blood’ means blood that has never been used in a ritual (not that it actually matters since your blood would fulfil the requirement either way).

The van slows to a stop, and you hear the crunch of gravel as your kidnappers disembark. You only have a few seconds at best to think of a plan of action.

What do you do?

  * Pretend to still be asleep
  * FIGHT! NEITHER MERCY NOR SURRENDER WILL BE ACCEPTED!!!
  * Act eager, as though being kidnapped and used for demonic sacrifice is the best thing that ever happened to you.
  * Lie. “I’m not a virgin so it won’t work.”
  * Other (please specify)



The number is 0000. Please start all commands for this post with the number.

* * *

**0000**

**0000: close your eyes. Imagine in great, vivid details, what you’re going to do to your kidnappers once you’re free. Motivated enough? Great. Now, open your eyes, and try to locate your weapon, count how many people are around you, and generally try to get as much info about your foe’s weaknesses and strengths.**

You take a moment to imagine yourself kicking your kidnappers through a wall. The mental image gives you a warm fuzzy feeling in your belly.

Alas, you left Crescent Rose at home today. You didn’t think that there would be a need to bring it with you for a five minute stroll to the shops. It wouldn’t have helped you in your present situation since they would have confiscated it anyway, so the fact that your sweetheart isn’t in the hands of some weirdo is actually quite comforting.

You resolve to keep a close eye out to look for any information that might help you.

 

**0000: tug a lil on your ties. see if they’re solid.**

You try to break out of the ties using force, but sadly they don’t budge. They seem to be the type the police uses to restrain criminals, rather than the ones normally used for luggage, so breaking them is way harder.

Even if you did break out of them though, the only way out would be to fight off whoever opens that door. If you can get a weapon, even if it was just a small knife or something, you think you could take on anyone as long as they aren’t trained in combat, but your hand-to-hand combat skills are nil. Maybe at some point you’ll have to think about rectifying that.

 

The van door is opened and you finally get a glimpse of your captors. One of them is pretty unremarkable aside from the fact that his nose turns upwards in a way that makes him look like a pig, and you could probably have gotten away from him on his own even without a weapon, but you are 95% certain that the second guy is half ursa. Trying to get through him unarmed would end badly.

**0000: lie, tell them yer not a virgin. This seems like the smartest course of action for now.**

 "Uhh, guys? I hate to burst your bubble but if you’re planning on using me as a virgin sacrifice or something its not gonna work because I’m… You know… Not one.“

The two men momentarily freeze in their tracks, disbelief etched onto their faces, before the ursa lets out a bark of laughter.

 "Nice try kid,” He says. “But if we just needed a virgin we would have just used Paul here.”

 Piggy gives him a dirty look. “Hey man, she didn’t need to know that.”

Ursa shrugs. “Doesn’t matter, she’ll be dead in 15 minutes anyway.” He grabs you and slings you unceremoniously over his shoulder. “The only requirement for the ritual sacrifice is that they’re young, and you meet that unless you’re secretly fifty years old.”

You ignore him and take note of the fact that you are currently at the docks. The area around you appears to be deserted so calling for help is unlikely to do anything aside from annoy the Ursa.  
  
The Ursa carries you towards the open doorway of a warehouse, pausing momantarily to drop his scroll into a box by the door, which you note that in addition to containing a bunch of other scrolls also contains a handgun. That could come in handy if you can get to it.

As you are taken inside, you examine what they’ve got set up.

_*Wow…*_ You think to yourself. _*These guys are the lamest cultists ever.*_

Their “"Sacrificial Alter”“ is a plastic table with some ropes tied to it. The multitude of candles that take up a good chunk of the warehouses floor space are cheap, scented ones. In addition to this, you’re pretty sure that the robes that the thirteen cultists are wearing are literally just bathrobes with hoods sewn on.

The summoning circle looks fine, but the containment circle that they’ve drawn around it is one designed for demons significantly weaker than anything that would require a human sacrifice. You also have no idea why they’ve drawn another circle around the ”“Alter”“, as you’ve never heard of a ritual where that is necessary. They’ve also coated the walls with runes. The runes look vaguely familiar to you but you can’t quite remember where you’ve seen them before.

There are at least a few of things in this room that look professional. For a start they seem to have done a decent job installing heavy blackout blinds over all the windows. One of the cultists (who you assume must be the leader) has a simple stone knife tucked into the belt of his bathrobe, and the fact that its so ordinary looking, as opposed to the gaudy knives that most cults use, means that its probably a legitimately powerful artifact. Finally, next to the ”“Alter”“ is a large, clear glass bowl filled with water. It looks ordinary enough at first glance, but you can feel an immense amount of magic radiating off of it.

 The Ursa places you on the ”“Alter”“, cuts off the cable ties, binds your hands and feet with the ropes, and walks off with Piggy to put on their own bathrobes. You give the ropes an experimental tug, and discover that the Ursa is actually very bad at making knots! You could probably get out of your bindings at any time, but you’ll need a plan of action otherwise the cult will just grab you and you’ll be back to square one again.

  
**What do you do?**

  * Wait for the head cultist to get close with the knife and grab it off him
  * Wait for a clear path to the door and go for the handgun
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0001.**

* * *

 

**0001**

**0001: going for the handgun is too risky; you don’t know if it’s charged, and you might get caught on the way. Grab the head cultist’s knife as soon as you can and stab them. You have the surprise effect. What’s the worst that could happen?**

**0001: Wait for the head cultist to get close with the knife and grab it off him**

**0001: Go for the knife.**

Knife it is! Now you just need to find a way to get the leader to come closer.

“Is everything ready?” The leader calls out. “Have you checked that there is no light aside from the candles?” There is a chorus of affirmatives from the other cultists. “Wonderful! Begin the ritual!”

The cultists all pull out notebooks and begin reading a chant out of them. They can’t even be bothered to remember their lines, unbelievable!

**0001: talk to them a lil, try to get out of them what exactly they’re trying to summon.**

**0001: tell them how much their altar suck. Add that yourself has been summoned in a much classier altar, see if it freaks them out.**

**0001: complain about their incompetent sacrificial cultism**

You yell at the leader. “Hey knife guy!”

He carries on chanting, but its clear he heard you.

“Hey, come on I’m talking to you”

He groans and snaps his notebook shut while gesturing toward the others to continue. “What is it?”

“What the heck is with the set up you have here? Your candles are terrible, you’re wearing bathrobes, and you couldn’t even get a proper stone alter! I’m actually kind of embarrassed to be a part of this right now.”

“How… How DARE you! Watch your tongue you fool!”

You’re clearly hitting a nerve, so you keep going. “Admit it! You blew all your budget on the knife and the bowl and had nothing left for everything else.”

The cult leader opens his mouth as if he was about to yell at you again, but then seems to visibly deflate before your eyes. Looks like you hit the nail on the head.

“Actually, we only managed to buy the knife before we were all bankrupt.” He says mournfully. “The bowl, and the instructions for the ritual itself, were gifts.”

“Gifts? From who?”

“A patron! Someone who recognised our incredible talents!”

You notice that as he has been talking he has slowly been walking towards you. You just need a little more and you can go for the knife. “And what does this ritual do exactly? If I’m gonna die for it I at least deserve to know.”

He smiles. “It will bring about a new age young lady. You see, up until now, no one has been able to bring into this world a demon strong enough to rule because gathering enough sacrifices to do so is time consuming, and draws the wrong kind of attention. But my patron has promised me that this single-sacrifice ritual, along with the bowl as a vessel, will produce energy more than twelve times greater than a single life would normally produce.”

He giggles madly, and takes another step forward. He is on the edge of the circle surrounding your “"Alter”“ now. Just one more step and he’ll be close enough for you to go for the knife.”

Meanwhile, the leader continues his speech. By now he is visibly panting from excitement. “With the power we gain today we will be unstoppable!”

Actually you’re starting to think that excitement isn’t the reason why he’s panting.

“We will be able to perform even grander rituals and harness the power if the gods and titans of old!”

Yeah he’s really starting to not look so good what the heck is going on?

REJOICE CHILD! You will be part of something great! IT ALL BEGINS HE…. It all begins her…. It all begins… It all…“

And with that, he keels over, dead as a doornail.

Well… That does make things slightly easier you suppose.

The sight of their leader falling snaps the other cultists out of their chant.

"Boss! Are you alr… Are you alri…..” One manages to stammer before keeling over in a similar fashion.

All around you, the cultists are dropping dead. You notice that the runes on the walls are glowing, and finally remember what they are. They’re ones meant to suck life-energy out of a sacrifice for use in a ritual. The circle surrounding your “"Alter”“ seems to be protecting you from the runes’ effects. In other words: These guys ended up using a ritual that kills all participants EXCEPT the intended sacrifice.

For the rest of your life, whenever you make a mistake, be sure to look back on this moment and think to yourself "Well at least I didn’t screw up as badly as those idiots.”

You wriggle your way out of your bindings, no point in staying in them anymore after all. The glow of the runes fades, their job complete. Its probably safe to leave the circle now. You feel a rush as the cultists’ life energy is collected in the bowl, causing it to glow faintly blue.

The ritual is almost complete, and the summoning has now begun.

Bad does not begin to describe the current situation. One human sacrifice will bring out a fairly strong demon, but thirteen sacrifices won’t just bring out a demon thirteen times more powerful than that. As you increase the sacrifices it has a multiplicative effect, so whatever demon, or demons, come through thanks to this ritual will probably be sixty to seventy times more powerful than what was originally intended.

That’s enough to wipe Vale off the map.

By now the Hunters will have detected the energy the ritual is producing, and if the containment circle was halfway decent they might get here in time to fix things, but it would barely hold an Imp-class demon, never mind whatever being is about to come through the rip between worlds. You need to do something to disrupt the ritual NOW before it completes, but you don’t have much time.

**What do you do?** (AN: There are three correct answers, and so you may vote for any three options. Whichever three get the most votes will win. You will need two correct answers to disrupt the ritual. Failure perform correctly will have an immense impact on how the story progresses from here. Good luck!)

  * Extinguish the candles
  * Rip off the blinds
  * Destroy the circles
  * Damage the runes
  * Tip over the bowl
  * Break the knife



 ….Of course you could also flee. You’d most likely be dooming the entire city, and you would almost certainly hate yourself forever for your cowardice, but there is a chance that you may escape.

**The number is 0002**

* * *

**0002**

**FINAL SCORE:  
**

  * **Candles: 6 votes**
  * **Blinds: 4 votes**
  * **Runes: 3 votes**
  * **Bowl: 7 votes**
  * **Circles: 3 votes**
  * **Knife: 1 vote**



**You picked 2 out of 3 correct answers: Blinds, and Bowl. The third correct answer was the runes. (It should be noted though, that extinguishing the candles WOULD have helped disrupt the ritual, but the quantity of them meant that it would have taken far too long to extinguish enough of them to have an effect. I guess you could say you got 2.5 out of three correct.)**

With your choice made, you leap into action. You first grab the bowl, gasping in surprise as touching it reveals that its not made of glass, but rather some kind of unmelting ice. You then fling the water that the bowl contains over the candles, dousing more than half of them.

You stamp out a few more candles as you rush towards the first blind. You tear it off, flooding the room with the grey light of evening. You then move on to the next, and then the next, and then the next….

By the time you are finished, the warehouse is a complete mess, with ripped blinds and stepped-on candles littered everywhere (and that’s not to mention the corpses). However, there is a notable absence of demons, and you can feel the energy of the ritual fading. There might be a few minor demons wriggling through the crack between worlds that the ritual made over the next few days before it closes up, but that’s nothing to really worry about. You did it!

Now you have to make another choice. Do you stay and wait for the Hunters to arrive, or get out of here to avoid awkward questions? Its probably best if you stay here, since you won’t get in trouble for running away and you’ll also probably get praised for stopping the disaster. From where you’re currently standing, you can’t see any reason to run away.

If you choose to stay, you could also have a look around at the remains of the ritual. Perhaps you could find something interesting out (its unlikely that you’ll get in trouble for tampering with evidence considering how much you’ve already wrecked the place).

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Stay and wait quietly.
  * Stay and examine objects at the scene (Most interesting objects are: the knife, the bowl, the lead cultists notebook, the scrolls that the cultists left outside. Pick whichever two you want to look at the most, as after that the Hunters will arrive and you won’t be able to look at any more)
  * Get out of here before the hunters arrive



**The number is 0003**

 

Author’s Note: Congrats on stopping the ritual guys! I almost kind of wish I made it slightly harder to guess the right answers, but that may have been a bit unfair.

I must say I’m kind of surprised that no one deliberately tried to pick wrong answers to let the ritual go through. I can pretty much guarantee you that later on a few of you will be going “Huh. If I had known this back then I would have let the ritual complete”. That’s not to say that letting the ritual complete wouldn’t have been a bad thing for Ruby (probably would have put this up there with the time she called the teacher mum on the worst moments of her life rankings), but… you’ll see.

It should be noted that just because you can’t see the benefits of picking an option right now, that doesn’t mean that there won’t be upsides later. Of course, that doesn’t mean that there aren’t downsides either. Generally I’ll try and give you enough information to make an informed decision though.

In this particular part there are actually no decisions that can be called bad. There will be an impact though, so choose carefully.

* * *

**0003**   


 

 

**Stay and examine the bowl and notebook were the most voted for choices.**

You decide to try and figure out a little bit more about what happened here while you wait for the hunters to arrive.

You start with the bowl, since it seemed to be the main focus of the ritual. Despite the fact that you dropped it fairly roughly earlier, it is completely undamaged. You can also make out small runes carved into the inside now that the water has been emptied.

As you lift the bowl up closer to your face, you suddenly see a reflection of a pair of pale blue eyes staring out of it. You drop the bowl again with a shriek, and immediately feel really glad that no one is around to have heard it.

You hope that what you just saw was only a trick of the light, but you doubt it (its never just a trick of the light when it comes to stuff like this). In any case, you really don’t want to touch that thing again.

Next you go and retrieve the cult leader’s notebook from his hand (EW! EW! EW! HE’S ALL SHRIVELLED UP AND NASTY AND A CORPSE AND UGH THIS IS SO GROSS!). A lot of what is inside is just the gibberish that they were chanting during the ritual, but towards the end of it you find a bit of interesting information.

“The ritual does not have a specific target, summoning one or multiple demons at random. It can however be influenced via the conditions in which the ritual is performed (in a forest you will get a plant demon, in a cave an earth demon, using animal sacrifices may produce a Grimm etc). Given that the ritual vessel that we will be using is made of ice, there is a high probability of an ice demon being produced. When we voted we decided we would most like a shadow demon so perhaps by blocking out as much light as possible, and balancing the ice with a large source of fire (candles or something similar), we might get lucky.”

Wow these guys didn’t even know what demon they were calling. Even in death they keep finding ways to lower your opinion of them.

As you place the notebook back down on the ground, the warehouse door is kicked open, and a large group of uniformed Hunters and Huntresses rush in, guns at the ready, led by a severe-looking woman with white hair. You remember hearing about a company of Hunters from the Atlesian military visiting Beacon. You guess they must have volunteered to help out.

The white-haired woman looks over the scene with a frown, her gaze eventually settling on you.  
  
“I don’t suppose you have an explanation for what happened here?” She asks.

**What do you say?**

**The number is 0004.**

 


	2. 0004 => 0007

**0004**

 

**0004: Tell them the truth. As embarrassing as it is, this is the best solution.**

 

**0004: “I got kidnapped by amateur cultists and they accidentally sacrificed themselves…?”**

 

“Uh… yeah. Hi!” You say. “I, um… kind of got kidnapped by cultists and was gonna be used as a sacrifice, only they screwed up and sacrificed themselves instead.”

From the woman’s expression you can tell that she is having a hard time believing that such a thing could happen. “…I think that maybe you should start again from the beginning.”  
  
You do so, and tell her everything that happened since you woke up in the van (except for the part where you tried to get them to let you go by claiming you weren’t a virgin, which she doesn’t need to know about). When you get to the part where you disrupted the ritual she frowns, takes out some scroll-like device, and begins sweeping it across the room.

“I see…” She says, as you finish. “And are you absolutely certain that nothing came through due to the ritual?”

“Well I didn’t see any demons. Although there was one thing…”

 

**0004:** “Totally not my fault.” And then proceed to explain what actually happened. **Wonder if this woman has similar eyes to what you saw in the bowl?**

“…When I picked up the bowl I saw a pair of eyes. It definitely weren’t my reflection, they were blue. Kind of like yours actually…. Exactly like yours…”

She frowns at this. “I see… Such an event could be caused by any number of different factors. It could be nothing, but I will be sure to look into it.” She places the device back in her pocket. “In any case miss…?”

“Ruby Rose.”

“…Miss Rose.” Her expression softens, and her mouth quirks upwards into a small smile. “If your story is accurate, then you may well have averted a major catastrophe. And for that you have my thanks.”

*You have received Winter Schnee’s respect! +500 Winter points!*

“In any case,” she continues, “I need to ask you to come in to Beacon at 3PM tomorrow for further questioning. Standard procedure. If there is nothing else, then one of my subordinates will escort you home.”

Is there anything else you would like to ask, say, or do before going home?

  * Yes (please specify)
  * No (timeskip to tomorrow morning)



The number is 0005.

 

* * *

 

**0005**

**0005: Ask for her name! We voices know it, but I don’t think Ruby does. Refrain from gushing. Do not ask her for her autograph, as you do not have anything for her to sign. Ask her about her weapon instead. DO gush.**

You actually do have something to write her autograph down on: the receipt from the ice-cream store. You refrain from asking though, to try and maintain some small illusion of not being a complete dork.

“Can I ask your name first?” You ask. “You haven’t told me it yet.”

“Oh, I apologise. Its Winter. Winter Schnee.”

“Also, if its ok with you, can I see your weapon?”

“I suppose there’s no harm in it. No touching though.” She draws her sword, an elegant duelling sabre. “Are you an aspiring huntress, or just an enthusiast?”

“Huntress in training! Two more years in Signal and then I’ll hopefully get a place in Beacon.” You say as you carefully examine the blade. “Wow. She’s really beautiful.” 

“Why thank you. I made it myself. Originally I had a different one, which was given to me by my father, but there’s something about wielding a weapon that is truly your own that nothing else can match.”

You nod furiously in response to her words. “Yes! I know exactly what you mean!”

*Winter is pleased by your compliments toward her weapon! +100 Winter points!*

 

**0005: Ask her if she’ll need your contact info before going home.**

“Will you need my contact details? You know, just in case there is an emergency.”  
  
“Not unless you plan on skipping out on the interview, but if we absolutely must contact you then we only need to look your details up on our database. I will however give you my details, just in case you need to contact us.”

You offer her the aforementioned ice-cream reciept. She scribbles her scroll number down on it and hands it back to you.

**[*You got Winter’s scroll number!*](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5VRr9NG7RE0&t=NWE0NzM0OTRmZWU4NjVkZTc2ZGVkMWFhNzU4NzZhZmNjMTI1OGNmMyxDWWdHZ1Z3Rg%3D%3D) **

**0005: Ask what will happen to the artifacts (knife, bowl, candles, notebook etc) then time skip :)**

You ask Winter what they will do with the stuff the cultists used in the ritual.

“Anything that we can’t immediately identify will be sent to Beacon’s research lab to be examined more thoroughly. After that they will either be locked away, destroyed, or put to use depending on their powers and effects. You can ask me, or whoever sees you, tomorrow and we may be able to tell you more about what was used here today.”

You thank Winter for answering your questions and say goodbye. Wow, she was really cool. You hope you see her again soon.

You are then driven home by a very quiet Atlesian hunter (for the first half of the journey you thought that you’d done something to annoy them, but it turned out that they were just kind of shy). Once you arrive at your house (which is actually your Uncle Qrow’s house, but you stay here often enough that you think of it as home just as much as your home back on Patch), you immediately flop straight in to bed, exhausted by the day’s events.

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

In the morning you shower, and then enjoy a nice big bowl of Pumpkin Pete’s cereal. Uncle Qrow is still not here (off doing huntery stuff as per usual), so you have the house all to yourself.

You’ve got ages before you have to head to Beacon, and nothing important on your schedule aside from one last bit of summer homework, but you’ve still got a couple of weeks before you have to do that. In the meantime maybe you could wander around Vale and see what you can find.

**5 time slots left**

  * **Go to map** (This will allow you to choose from a variety of locations in Vale. Each one will have a different encounter. None of them are absolutely vital, but all of them should hopefully be fun and/or interesting. You do not have enough time slots to visit everything so choose carefully.)
  * **Just go and get your homework done already** (This will provide you with a substantial chunk of information on the nature of demons. It will use up one of your time slots.)



The number is 0006.

* * *

 

**0006**

 

**0006: Just get your homework done. I know it’s annoying but who knows how much time will be left after your interview.**

**0006: Finish the dreaded homework. You still have more time to explore later anyway.**

FINE HEAD VOICES! YOU DIDN’T WANT TO HAVE FUN FOR THE NEXT HOUR ANYWAY!

…While Ruby gets on with her final essay of the summer, here’s something  a little more interesting.

 

**“A Basic Introduction to Demons”**

The name ‘Demon’ is actually quite misleading as it implies that all demons are of a single species. In reality there are many different types, ranging from fae, to ghosts, to grimm, and more. They also, most likely, do not originate from Hell, however this issue is hotly debated to this very day due to the lack of information we have about the dimension from which demons originate. The name, along with said belief, came about due to the fact that most demons encountered by humans or faunus have been antagonistic towards our species’.

The most common and well known demons are ones with powers over the basic elements of the world, such as fire demons, however the idea that all demons draw their powers from the elements has been disproved by ones that have powers that are harder to classify, such as mental or illusionary powers. There is believed to be a nearly infinite variety of demons, so many that we cannot possibly identify them all.

Most Demons cannot enter our realm freely unless they are extremely weak (much like how a fishing net allows small fish to get through but catches any larger ones). These weak demons, known as imps, lack the power to remain in our world for long, unless they possess the body of a living being. Intelligent beings such as humans and faunus can shrug off an imp’s attempt at possession easily. However any animals that are possessed cannot, and their instinctive resistance results in it and the imp being driven feral and mutating, turning into the monstrous “Grimm”. When the host body dies, the demon is sent back to its home realm. It should be noted that many leaders in the field have hypothesised that it should be possible for an imp to possess a young or infant child, due to their consciousness not being fully developed. Thankfully, there has yet to be a single recorded instance of this occurring throughout history.

More powerful Demons need to be summoned into the world via ritual. They can then be made to remain in the world via either providing it with a host (which can now be a person if the demon is strong enough to overcome their consciousness), binding it to an object, or binding it to a person. The difference between a demon “possessing” someone and being “bound” to someone is that when they are bound the host retains full control. The demon does however retain power over its own abilities, and so must be forced to co-operate via some other method.

The only time that a demon requires no host at all to remain in our world is when they are monstrously, powerful. In these cases the demon, or “Titan” as demons of this level are more commonly known, can bind themselves permanently to the world itself, becoming impossible to banish. The only way to deal with Titans is to constantly drain their power out of them, rendering them incapable of any action. Thankfully, there have only ever been four instances of Titan-class demons throughout history.

___________________________________________________________

 

There! You’re finally done with your homework. Now you have no obligations until you start your next term at Signal.  
  
Its time to finally go out. You’ve plenty of time to wander before heading to Beacon. Where do you want to go first?

**4 time slots remaining**

  * **The Book Store:** You recently discovered a book shop that sells really nice books quite cheaply. Its owned by a friendly faunus man named Tuckson.
  * **Ice cream store:** You never actually got to finish that ice cream before getting kidnapped. You deserve another one (and if someone tries to grab you again, you’ll have Crescent Rose with you this time)
  * **Coliseum:** A place where hunters and huntresses can test their skills against one another. There’s no tournament right now, and you need to be 16 to sign up for anything, but its always fun to go watch.
  * **Gym:** You don’t really need to go to this place, but they have a nice wide area for training with weapons.
  * **Cafe:** This place is one of the most popular places for dates in the city. You could go there and have a date with a nice big mug of the best hot chocolate in the world.
  * **Clothes Shop:** You wear your combat skirt a lot. Maybe you could go see if there’s anything you can get to expand your wardrobe.
  * **Scrapyard:** You used to go here to get cheap parts when you were still a beginner when it came to making weapons. These days you only use the best parts for Crescent Rose, but there’s still a high chance that you’ll find something interesting.



 

The number is 0007

(Remember guys: more asks = more updates. Don’t forget to send me prompts.)

* * *

**0007**

 

**0007: Go to the Scrapyyard!! Time to loot loot loot**

**0007: scrapyard! See if you could salvage something interesting!**

**0007: scrapyaaaard**

 

You decide to go visit the scrapyard.

Before you leave the house you pick up Crescent Rose and strap it to your back. You are never going to leave the house without it again. You also take a bit of cash for anything you might buy while you’re out.

You have to climb over the fence to get in. The security guards don’t actually care about anyone sneaking in, but it is still technically their job to keep out trespassers so going in through the front isn’t a good idea.

You don’t find anything that looks like it will be immediately useful to you, but you do find a few sheets of good quality metal that could be used to make replacement blades for CR (which you stash away near your entry point so you can come back and pick them up when you’re on a more serious scavenging trip). You also find a large revolver cylinder, which you pocket for future use in new weapon designs.

As you start to make your way out, you realise that you’ve unwittingly picked up a friend. There are a few stray cats that make their home here, and one of them seems to have taken a liking to you.  
  
You make an attempt to lose it by taking a roundabout route to your exit, but it keeps up with you right up to, and over, the fence. At that point you resign yourself to the fact that its here to stay, as you don’t have the heart to chase it away. Admittedly, out of all the stray cats that could have decided to follow you, you could have done a lot worse for yourself as this one is really pretty, with a glossy black coat of fur and intelligent amber eyes.

What should you name your new friend?

Also, where will you go next?

**3 time slots remaining**

  * **The Book Store:** You recently discovered a book shop that sells really nice books quite cheaply. Its owned by a friendly faunus man named Tuckson.
  * **Ice cream store:** You never actually got to finish that ice cream before getting kidnapped. You deserve another one (and if someone tries to grab you again, you’ll have Crescent Rose with you this time)
  * **Coliseum:** A place where hunters and huntresses can test their skills against one another. There’s no tournament right now, and you need to be 16 to sign up for anything, but its always fun to go watch.
  * **Gym:** You don’t really need to go to this place, but they have a nice wide area for training with weapons.
  * **Cafe:** This place is one of the most popular places for dates in the city. You could go there and have a date with a nice big mug of the best hot chocolate in the world.
  * **Clothes Shop:** You wear your combat skirt a lot. Maybe you could go see if there’s anything you can get to expand your wardrobe.



**The number is 0008.**


	3. 0008 => 0011

**0008**

 

**0008:** OR head home with your little companion and play with it. **You could give it milk and name it Blackie. I’m sure uncle Qrow wouldn’t mind.**

“How about I call you Blackie? Do you like the name Blackie?”

There is no visible response from the cat, but all of a sudden you get the strong impression that if it could speak it would be making some kind of snarky comment about your ability to name things.

“Alright fine. Not Blackie. How about I call you…”

**0008: Name the little kitty “Belladonna”. Dark, elegant, and potentially dangerous. Also, go to the book store. We might find a good book on kitty treats.**

“…Belladonna! That’s a nice name right?”

The cat visibly perks up as you say this. You decide to assume that this means she likes the name.

“Great! Belladonna it is.”

**0008:** Name the cat Kitty! **And go to the bookstore. Wait, are pets even allowed inside?**

**0008: go to the bookstore and acquire more knowledge! Knowledge is POWER.**

You decide to visit the bookstore next. On the way you spend some time worrying about what you’d do if pets weren’t allowed inside. Thankfully the dilemma resolves itself, as when you arrive Belladonna sits down and waits just outside the door. What a good kitty! You’ll make sure to buy something nice for her on the way home.

When you get there the shop is mainly empty aside from the shopkeeper, and a girl with green hair browsing the fiction section. You say hi to Tuckson, and begin looking through the books yourself.

You already have a few stories to read back at home, so you decide to look for books on the knife and bowl from the ritual yesterday. You find nothing concrete on the knife (or to be more precise, you find so much information on different ritual knives that its impossible to figure out exactly what applies to the one that was there yesterday). Your research into the bowl is slightly more successful, as there is plenty of information on ritual vessels being used to condense large amounts of energy during more elaborate rituals.

You don’t find anything about the eyes though. The closest explanation is that sometimes the reflective surface on bowls of water are used for scrying (foretelling the future or seeing far off events), but that usually requires a spell from the one looking in to it. It is possible that someone was using such a method to watch you though (which you really don’t want to think too much about).

As you begin to make your way out, you recognise the book that the green-haired girl is currently flicking through.

“That’s a good choice.” You call out to her. “I really like how the main character always keeps trying to be a good person, despite how awful the world is.”

The girl’s eyes flick up towards you, and she gives a disdainful scoff. “Oh please. That kind of thing is stupid and childish. People aren’t like that in real life. And they certainly don’t get rewarded for it by being brought back to life.”

“Brought back to life?” You say quizzically. “But that only happens in the last book. You would have had to have read the whole series to know that.” (Which is ten books by the way).

The girl tenses up at your words, and turns to face you with a venomous glare. You decide that maybe its time for you to go be somewhere else.

***You gained (or maybe lost) an unknown number of Emerald points***

**2 time slots remaining**

  * **Ice cream store:** You never actually got to finish that ice cream before     getting kidnapped. You deserve another one (and if someone tries to grab you again, you’ll have Crescent Rose with you this time)
  * **Coliseum:** A place where hunters and huntresses can test their skills against one another. There’s no tournament right now, and you need to be 16 to sign up for anything, but its always fun to go watch.
  * **Gym:** You don’t really need to go to this place, but they have a nice wide area for training with weapons.
  * **Cafe:** This place is one of the most popular places for dates in the city. You could go there and have a date with a nice big mug of the best hot     chocolate in the world.
  * **Clothes Shop:** You wear your combat skirt a lot. Maybe you could go see if there’s anything you can get to expand your wardrobe.



**The number is 0009.**

* * *

**0009**

 

**0009: Go to the ice cream shop because you deserve it girl! Buy yourself a banana split or something**

**0009: Apologize profusely if you’ve spoiled the book. Make haste to the ice cream store. Maybe Belladonna would like a frozen treat? Actually, see if this new girl would join you as well.** ****

You momentarily consider inviting the girl along for ice cream, but eventually decide against it. Your social skills may not be that great, but you were getting a strong feeling that it was time to remove yourself from the area before things got worse.

As you arrive at the ice-cream parlour you are greeted by a strange sight. A ginger-haired girl is sitting in front of the display case, staring, hollow-eyed, at the flavours of ice cream on display. Her expression looks as though she just found out that her pet goldfish had been eaten by her cat, which then choked on it and died. You ask the guy at the till what was wrong with her.

“She was one lien short of the price of her order. I asked if she wanted to change it to something else but she just kind of… went into shock.”

Well that’s kind of an extreme response.

“Well if its only that much she’s missing, then I’ll pay the extra lien,” you say. Its no big deal after all, especially since its Qrow’s money.

At your words, the girl is immediately restored to life. “REALLY? ” She leaps up and pulls you into a huge bear-hug. “OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKYOUSOVERYMUCH!!!!”  
  
 ***A DEBT IN ICE CREAM IS A DEBT FOREVER! You have earned 1000 Nora points!***

In contrast to the girls enthusiasm, the cashier looks absolutely gutted. You soon see why, as he proceeds to make an enormous sundae out of one scoop of each flavour available. There are twenty four flavours of ice cream sold here, so twenty four scoops went into creating this monstrosity.

You both take your orders (you bought a banana split with strawberry ice cream) and go sit down at one of the tables. You introduce yourself.

“I’m Nora.” She says between mouthfuls of ice cream. “Thanks for your help. I’ve wanted to go and order every flavour of ice cream at an ice cream store for my entire life, and today you have helped me live that dream!” She finishes dramatically.

“I don’t think eating that much ice cream is going to be good for you.” Honestly watching her eat it is kind of putting you off your own sundae.

“My friend said something like that too, only it was more like "Stop Nora. You’re going to get sick Nora. I’m not going to watch you do this to yourself Nora.” He’s probably right of course but I’m going to do it anyway. NO REGRETS!“

You feel as though you’ve watched this girl destroy herself for long enough. "I think I’m just gonna go…”

“Hold on a sec!” She says, as she pulls out a pen and scribbles a scroll number down on a napkin. “Here’s my scroll number. If you ever are in need of assistance, day or night, just call me! Or you could also call me if you just wanna talk or hang out or something, I’m good with whatever.”

You thank her and say your goodbyes.

[ ***You got Nora’s scroll number!*** ](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D5VRr9NG7RE0&t=NGM2OTY3YTQ2YTI2ZmY2YTRmYTA2YzQ4ZTBhYjFlMDA0NjNkZGY0YywzNUVXWmNBOQ%3D%3D)

Where do you want to go next?

**1 Time slot remaining**

  * **Coliseum:** A place where hunters and huntresses can test their skills against one another. There’s no tournament right now, and you need to be 16 to sign up for anything, but its always fun to go watch.
  * **Gym:** You don’t really need to go to this place, but they have a nice wide area for training with weapons.
  * **Cafe:** This place is one of the most popular places for dates in the city. You could go there and have a date with a nice big mug of the best hot     chocolate in the world.
  * **Clothes Shop:** You wear your combat skirt a lot. Maybe you could go see if there’s anything you can get to expand your wardrobe.
  * **Head over to Beacon a bit early** (This will end your exploration of the city.)



The number is 0010.

* * *

**0010**

 

**0010: HIT THE GYM** ****

**0010: Boast your magnificent weapon in the gym**

**0010: Still say the gym. Maybe Nora wants to come too?**

**0010: Off to the gym! You should work on your skills a bit more so you don’t get kidnapped again!**

**0010: GO TO THE GYM!**

You decide to head over to the Gym and train a bit so you can avoid incidents like the one last night.

When you get there, you see that the Gym’s training area is taken up by a group of nine people engaged in a battle royal using wooden weapons. At least, that’s what you thought at first. You quickly realise that most of the combatants aren’t attacking one another, but rather were all targeting one girl; and she was winning!

Before your eyes she dispatches the other combatants, one by one, and soon there are only two left. The girl’s final opponent, to their credit, holds out against the onslaught for a little longer than the others, but its clear that they are completely on the defensive. Soon, a low blow slips through and impacts on their shins, and their futile resistance crumbles. The girl stands as the lone victor among a pile of groaning bodies.

That was one of the most beautiful things that you have seen in your entire life.

“That was amazing!” You cry as you run over to her. “The way the one guy came at you from behind and you just went ‘HA YAWW’ and… Wait, aren’t you the girl on the cover of Pumpkin Pete’s?”

“Ah… yes. I’m Pyrrha Nikos.” She says sheepishly.

“I’m Ruby! That was a really cool fight! Do you come here often?”  
  
“This is my first time here. I didn’t come here to spar originally, but someone challenged me, and well…” Ruby followed her gaze to the stands, where a large number of people were clutching bruised body parts and groaning. “…One thing just kind of led to another.”

“Wow… I came here to do a little combat practice. Maybe you could give me a few pointers?”  
  
Pyrrha smiles. “I don’t see why not. Why don’t you start by telling me what areas you’re weak in…”  
  
You spend some time training with Pyrrha, focusing on your weaknesses such as getting out of grapples and unarmed self-defence. You’re not going to be able to fix the problems you have completely with just half an hour of practice, but you won’t be quite as helpless next time.

***Training with Pyrrha has brought you closer. +500 Pyrrha points!“**

Eventually it starts to get close to the time you have to be at Beacon, so you say your goodbyes and head off with Belladonna.

____________________________________________________________

Beacon is every bit as awe inspiring as you always imagined it would be. Belladonna, sadly, does not seem to share your enthusiasm, seemingly more hesitant than usual.

As you cross the school grounds, you see Winter walking over to the main building just ahead of you. You call out and start running up to her.

"Ah, Ruby.” She says as she turns to face you. “Perfect timing. I was just about to…” She stops dead, eyes widening in horror as she spots Belladonna walking behind you. Her hand darts to the hilt of her sword. When she speaks again her voice is low and dangerous. “Ruby. Stand aside. Now.”  
  
 **What do you do?**

**The number is 0011**

* * *

**0011**

 

**0011: Stand your ground and defend the little cat! The poor thing didn’t do anything bad!**

**0011: “Okay that’s just my cat” maybe enough to get her to explain what she’s doing**

You try to protest. “Wait! That’s just my cat!”  
  
“That is no mere cat. Get away from it. NOW!”

“What are you talking abou… Oh…” As you turn to Belladonna you realise that she now only resembles a cat in the vaguest sense, as all of her defining features, save her eyes, have melted away into black shadow. A shadow demon.

Winter leaps forward into action; shoving you out of the way, and striking at Belladonna with her blade. The demon flows out of the way of the blade, only to let out a distorted hiss as Winter stabs her in (what you assume is) its side with a smaller knife that she had detached from her sword mid-swing.

For a few moments the two wrestle as Winter tries to keep it pinned long enough to deal a finishing blow, but Belladonna manages to escape between her legs, albeit at the cost of a large chunk of itself. From there the demon proceeds to dart towards a nearby drain, and escape into the sewers.

Winter mutters a curse under her breath upon seeing its escape, before turning to you with a look of disapproval. “When you are a huntress there often come times where moments of hesitation or disobedience could lead to lost lives. This was one of those times.”

***-300 Winter points. Belladonna has left your group.***

“I’m… I’m sorry.” You say, slightly in shock about what you had just witnessed. “I thought she was just a cat.”

Winter sighs and sheathes her sword. “You’re not at fault for thinking that. I may have been fooled too had I not been looking for it. In any case, we have important matters to discuss. This way.”  
  
You follow her to Beacon’s main tower, where you ride an elevator up to an office surrounded by gears. There are three people waiting for you there when you arrive: A stern looking man in a military uniform, an even sterner looking woman, and grey-haired main taking measured sips from a coffee mug.

The grey haired man speaks first. “Ah! Miss Rose and Miss Schnee, you’re here at last. I was beginning to worry.”  
  
“You were right to.” Winter responds. “A shadow demon followed Ruby into the school, disguised in the form of a cat. I was able to drive it off for now, but it seems the worst case scenario has come to pass.”

“I see. That is troubling.” He turns to address you. “In any case, miss Rose I am Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon academy. These are my associates, Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood. You most likely have many questions, both about the event that just occurred and your experience yesterday. I believe that I have the answers to at least some of those questions.”  
  
“Where do you wish to begin?”

**The number is 0012.**

 

 


	4. 0012 => 0015

**0012**

 

**0012: Do you know who those cultists are?**

  
“They were a group of co-workers at a telemarketing company.” Ozpin answers with a chuckle. “We believe they grew sick of their jobs and decided an attempt at world domination via demon summoning would be a better use of their lives.”  
  
Well they weren’t wrong about that.

Ozpin continues. “We actually had them on our watchlist for a while. We didn’t have anything that we could use to get a conviction, as bulk purchases of candles is not actually a crime. Neither is owning an antique ritual knife…”

“Although it really should be.” Adds Ironwood.

“Yes. yes. I know Ironwood. We’ve had this conversation before. In any case, we finally got something decisive when they rented a church on the edge of town for a day a few weeks from now and clumsily tried to bribe the huntress responsible for that area to look in the other direction on that date. That would have been enough to arrest them, but since we knew the exact date that their ritual would occur we decided to wait and catch them in the act.”  
  
He frowns. “Of course, things turned out slightly differently then that. The warehouse that they actually used was rented via a company that doesn’t actually exist, which indicates to me that it was a third party that made the arrangements for their ritual to be performed on a different date. This was most likely the patron that you mentioned in your report to Winter.”

**0012 ask about the bowl. what did they figure out about it?** what the fuck were dem eyes?

“Ah yes. The bowl. I believe Professor Goodwitch was in charge of the investigation into that. Glynda, would you please explain your findings to Miss Rose.”  
  
She gives Ozpin a curt nod before beginning. “The bowl is essentially an entire ritual condensed into a single object. The only thing that it needs is a method to obtain energy to fuel itself, in this case energy extraction runes, and some environmental influences in the case that the summoner desires a specific type of demon. The markings on the inside of the bowl seem to have been made with modern tools, so we believe it to have been made relatively recently. We have unfortunately not yet discerned the precise method of enchantment used to empower it.”  
  
“Thank you Glynda.” Ozpin turns back to face you. “We believe that the bowl was given to the cultists by its creator in order to test its capabilities on some, shall we say, ‘disposable’ individuals. The idea of more of these artifacts being created is troubling to say the least. If you were also wondering about the knife; I am afraid we will need a bit more time before we reach any conclusions there

**0012: "what kind of demon were they trying to summon?” “How powerful would it have been?”** “my uncle is the famous huntsman Qrow Branwen, I’ll know if you lie to me!”

**0012** ask about the bowl. what did they figure out about it? **what the fuck were dem eyes?**

“The ritual had no specific target, but by scanning the site of the ritual we determined what demons would come through. The first was an ice demon, with the ice of the bowl itself being the environmental catalyst for its summoning. The second was a shadow demon. The lack of natural light in the room was the catalyst for that one being brought through. The third was a fire demon, brought through by the flames of the candles. I estimate that each of them would be worth fifteen of any demon brought through with a single sacrifice, and all three together may well have been able to raze our city to the ground.”  
  
Ozpin pauses for a moment to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “As you may have guessed, you’ve already met the shadow demon. The eyes that you saw reflected in the bowl were most likely the ice demon. So far we haven’t received any sign of the presence of the third, but I think we can safely assume that it is out there.”

**0012: Ask about Belladonna first. What is she, and why wasn’t she at all hostile to you?** ****

“Hold on a sec.” You say, confused. “I thought I stopped the ritual from bringing the demons through to our world.”  
  
“You certainly managed to prevent it from completing, but that doesn’t mean it had no effect. You are no doubt aware of the fact that in order to remain in this world demons need to have a host to be bound to, ideally a living one. Thus the ritual was to bind the demons that it brought into the world to the only person meant to survive it: you.”

Oh no. Oh no no no no no. You can’t be bound to a demon, you just can’t be. There is no way to reverse that when it happens, and only one punishment for those who are bound, regardless of the circumstances surrounding it…

“However!” Ozpin interjects, clearly seeing your panic. “Thanks to your actions, your binding was not complete. Only the most minute amount of their essence was bound to your soul, an insufficient amount for them to fully materialise. As a result, while they are currently able to maintain their presence in this world, they are severely weakened, with most of their power still trapped in the other world. Thus there is a high probability that if we were to find and destroy them, they would be returned to their world rather than returned to you as they would during a standard binding. If this is the case, then the connection will be broken once and for all, without the need for extreme measures. That’s not to say that the binding can’t still be completed, but it would require your conscious consent, which is likely why the shadow demon started following you.”  
  
You feel yourself relax slightly at this. But only slightly. You aren’t really scared for your own life as much as you are worried about what your Dad would do if something happened to you. You don’t think he would be able to take it on top of your Mom’s death, and what happened to Yang.

**0012: Ask them what is going to happen to you after what happened yesterday**

“What is going to happen to me now?”  
  
“That is up to you. We would prefer that you stayed in Beacon for the next few days, as it is here that we can best protect you. We will not treat you as a prisoner though, and so you are free to leave whenever you choose. As for what will happen after that, we are still in the process of deciding.”  
  
 **What do you want to do?**

  * Stay at Beacon for now. Its safer here.
  * Choose to not to stay at Beacon. You don’t want to hide from your problems.
  * Other (please specify)



 

**The number is 0013**

* * *

 

**0013**

 

****

**0013: Remember what happened to Yang.** ****

**0013: What ever did happen to Yang? Remember the details and use it as a reminder not to do something stupid.** ****

**0013: Let’s face our problems head on! That’s what Yang would do. By the way… what happened to Yang?** ****

You don’t want to think about it, but trying not to think about it just makes you think about it more.

The truth is, you don’t know exactly what happened to Yang. One day, just an hour before dinner, she said she was going to go for a jog in the woods. Half an hour later, you and Dad saw the flames of a massive forest fire. Dad immediately rushed out to try and find her, but he was only able to find her body.

It was still alive, but Yang was gone. Her body still breathed normally, and would eat  and drink if you put it in its mouth, but everything that made Yang be Yang was just gone.

You know that some day she’ll come back. You know that some day that you’ll have your sister again. If you didn’t know that, then you don’t think you would be able to cope.

**0013: Ask if there would be any side-effects on you because of the demons bound in your soul.** After that, go home and let everything sink in.

You ask, just out of curiosity, what the side effects of having a demon bound to you are?

Ozpin shakes his head. “I wish I had an answer for you Ruby. We can examine demons’ souls without too many problems, but only because they are essentially nothing but a soul. The human soul is still a mystery to us, but I can make an educated guess that if you had all three demons bound to you at once you would have more demon inside of you than human, and I think that we can safely assume that that would be a bad thing.”

**0013: You should call your dad and tell him what happened. Also ask him whether it would be better to stay at Beacon or go home.** ****

**0013: Ask if you can call your dad. You want a second opinion.**

You decide to call your dad and get a second opinion. He picks up on the second ring.

“Ruby? What’s wrong? You don’t normally call this early in the day.”  
  
It suddenly hits you how awkward this conversation is going to be. “Well… Its kind of a long story Dad, and it all started when I got kidnapped by cultists yesterday….”

You fill him in about what occurred over the course of the past two days. Towards the end you start to hear frantic activity over the scroll.

“Right. Ruby, you stay right there at Beacon. I will be there with you in three hours or less.”

“Wait, what about Yang?”  
  
“I’ll get one of the neighbours to look after her. Yang isn’t in immediate danger, but you are. There is no way in hell I am just going to sit here idly while some two-bit demonic shits threaten my daughter.” There is a long pause. “…Ruby, swearing is a very bad habit and you should never do it. I love you, see you later.” He hangs up.

…Whelp, looks like your decision was just made for you. You suddenly really wish you’d bought a book to read for the long wait ahead.

________________________________________________________

Ruby won’t be doing much for the next three hours. As a replacement for any meaningful question as to what Ruby should do next, why don’t you choose which of these three **completely random letters of the alphabet that will in no way have any relevance to the story** is your favourite.

  * W
  * B
  * Y



**The number is 0014.**

* * *

 

**0014**

 

You are now…

You are now..

Who are you now?  
  
You are you, you know that much. But you don’t know much more than that.

Identity did not mean much in that other place. The only things there were you, and enemies. You did not want to fight, but you had to lest you be consumed. As you fought, you became greater, and were more able to defend yourself. But in doing this, you forgot who you were.

Did you even know in the first place? Did you ever have an identity before? Was there a before for you?

You don’t know, but maybe you can find the answers here, in this world.

First of all though, you have to find a way to not get sent back to the other one. This will be no easy feat, as you have been greatly diminished. You have become a mere frigid breeze, compared to the raging blizzard you once were.

Thankfully, you are fairly certain that the girl that you glimpsed when you first entered this realm holds the answer. You felt a tiny flake of yourself stored inside of her, so perhaps she will be able to give you refuge against the pull of the other world.

You can also feel the two others who were pulled in with you somewhere in this city. In the other world they would have been your enemies, but perhaps here there is no need for you to fight…

Seeking out some kind of vessel for yourself first might also be a good idea. It would not anchor you to this world, but it would allow you to gather your strength a bit more effectively. However, while you are very weak in your current state, it may be harder for any enemies you encounter to harm you, or recognise your presence.

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Find the girl first
  * Seek out the shadow
  * Seek out the ember
  * Find a vessel
  * Other (please specify)



 

**The number is 0015**

**Y gained 8 votes.**

**W also gained 5 votes.**

**B gained 1 vote.**

**  
In the end however I picked W because someone appears to have used the anon feature to send in several votes for Y (they all came in a row and were almost identical in how they were typed). Please don’t abuse the anon feature like that as I do not want to have to turn it off.**

* * *

 

**0015**

**0015: Seek the girl, but fly cautiously. Her eyes seem kind, and that’s all you can trust.** ****

**0015: Find the girl**

You decide that you’ll prioritise finding the girl first. Any vessel that you get would be temporary at best, and you won’t need one once you are properly bound to this world.

You know which direction that she is in thanks to the fragment of yourself within her, but getting to her is difficult. After all, you’re a cold breeze in a summer afternoon. You can barely spend half a minute out in the sun before having to take refuge next to an air conditioner or inside a store’s fridge. In the end however, salvation comes in the form of a passing ice cream truck. By stowing away in it you were able to get right to the front gates of the building in which the girl is located in relative comfort (a faint memory in the back of your mind tells you that this place is some kind of school).

Its here that things begin to get dangerous, as you notice that almost every person inside and around the school is carrying some form of weapon. You may currently be incorporeal, but from the faint pulse of power you feel emanating from the weapons you can tell that they were created to be able to hurt beings like yourself.

From here things begin to move really slowly, as if a single one of these people gain the slightest hint of your existence it could all be over. Eventually though, your care pays off. As you enter the school’s cafeteria, you finally spot her sitting at a table off to the corner while chewing half-heartedly on a sandwich.

You’re then faced with another dilemma. Every second that you wait increases the odds that you will be discovered. On the other hand if you try to contact her right now with so many people around, the risk may be even worse (especially if she does not immediately agree to help you).

**What should you do?**

  * Risk waiting for a better opportunity
  * Risk contacting her immediately
  * Other (please specify)



 

**The number is 0016  
**

**  
(Author’s Note: I ran into a bit of a mental block while writing this one, so sorry if its a bit short. I’ll make sure to do better with the next part.)**


	5. 0016 => 0019

**0016**

 

**0016: Observe the surroundings once more. See if the 2 other demons are present.** ****

You can sense that the shadow demon is somewhere nearby, although you can’t pinpoint its exact location. You have no clue where the fire demon is right now though.

**0016: Find an AC unit to get comfy in and wait for a better chance. Contacting her would be futile if a room full of people saw it happen.** ****

**0016: Wait for now, but hide yourself near her. If she contains a bit of you already, it should help hide your presence from others. Do something nice for her though, like keep her cool~** ****

There’s an air conditioner attached to the wall just above the girls seat. You slip inside it, only to discover that it wasn’t functioning. No wonder the girl looks so uncomfortable. Feeling a little bit charitable, you exert a small amount of your power to produce a cooling breeze, giving off the appearance that the AC finally started working properly. It has an almost immediate effect on the girls mood, making her far more comfortable and relaxed.

Feeling satisfied with yourself, you settle down to wait until either the cafeteria empties or the girl decides to move. You slip into a doze for a while, losing all track of time, only being roused a blond-haired man comes up and starts speaking to her.

“Sorry I’m late Ruby.” He said, sounding slightly out of breath. “The ferry from Patch was delayed due to a fire breaking out. Thankfully it was small otherwise I wouldn’t be here right now.”  
  
Ruby smiled reassuringly and gave him a big hug. “Don’t worry about it Dad, I was fine here. Do you know what’s going to happen now?”

“Ah, yes. Ozpin and I had a long discussion on the scroll while I was en route, and we both decided that you will be staying here in Beacon until the situation is resolved.”  
  
“WHAT? But he said to me…”  
  
“He said to you that he wouldn’t keep you prisoner. But this isn’t prison, this is protection. As long as those three demons are out there, you are not safe out in the open.”

They think that you are her enemy. You’re not really surprised by this fact, considering your own experiences with others of your kind.

Ruby sighs dejectedly and places her head in her hands. “You’re probably right, but I can’t become a huntress if I just hide away from my problems…”  
  
“Well I do have a little bit of good news for you. You see, Ozpin has been taking a good look at how far ahead your grades are compared to all the other students at Signal. He says that he’s planning to arrange for you to start learning here in Beacon as soon as summer ends. At least, if you’re ok with that of course.”

“Really? You you’re not joking?”

“Not at all. A space opened up in the first year when they discovered that some idiot tried to apply with forged papers. You’re not a huntress yet, and until you become one you’ll have to stand back and let us adults protect you, but that’s not to say that you can’t work towards that goal in the meantime.”  
  
You watch Ruby jitter uncontrollably from excitement. “That’s great! I’ll do it! I’ll work twice as hard as everyone and become the best huntress ever!”

“That’s my girl. Now follow me, and I’ll show you the dorm room they assigned to you.” 

——————————————————————————————–

As they walk off, you fly after them at a distance. Ruby’s father leads her to one of the dorm rooms, before leaving her alone to get settled. You watch her start to examine the beds, while muttering something about wanting bunk beds instead. You’re completely alone with her, now is the perfect time.

 

**What do you do? What do you say?**

**The number is 0017**

* * *

 

**0017**

 

**0017: maybe say hi and hope she doesn’t scream? From what we’ve seen so far a warm welcome shouldn’t exactly be expected**

You realise that there probably isn’t going to be any way to introduce yourself than just coming out and saying hi.

“Um… Hello there.” You say in as human a voice as you can muster, which is actually a pretty good one if you do say so yourself.

Without hesitation she whips out her scythe and settles into a combat-ready stance. Her eyes scan the room for any visible sign of your presence.

“Where are you?” She demands. Her voice is shaking slightly, betraying her nervousness.  
  
She hasn’t called out for help yet though, so there’s still hope.

**0017: Thanks to your patience, we know she’s been warned against you and won’t trust you right away. You need to act before she becomes completely closed off to the idea of you, so appear to her, but be as non-hostile as possible. You don’t have to be particularly friendly- in fact, that might make her suspicious. Just be calm, rational, and non-threatening.**

**0017: “I mean no harm but Please tell me you didnt summon me for nothing.”** Make a small breeze to confirm your presence?

“I don’t mean you any harm. Could you please tell me why you’re so scared of me after you brought me into this world?”

“I didn’t bring you here! I was kidnapped! I didn’t have a choice.”

Oh no, that makes things way more difficult. “I’m… I’m sorry that happened. But please, if you don’t help me I’ll have to go back to the other world…”  
  
“Good! Just go and leave me alone!”  
  
“You don’t understand what its like!” You feel yourself beginning to despair, as your last hope starts to slip away before you. “Every moment I stay in that place I lose bits of myself. I already don’t know who I’m meant to be. You’re my only chance. Please help me…”

_____________________________________________________________

You are now Ruby Rose, and this isn’t how you expected your first encounter with a demon to go. Everything you have ever read and heard about demons has told you that they are all absolutely evil beings that must be dealt with at all costs, but this is nothing like that. Its possible that she is tricking you, trying to get you to lower your guard. She really does sound like she is about to cry though….

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Do your duty as a huntress.
  * Tell her to leave for now, but you’ll think about what she said.
  * Compromise. Your cape used to be enchanted. That enchantment has long since faded, but it should be a suitable vessel for the demon to hide in.
  * Take the plunge and agree to complete the binding (This is not a good idea considering where you are right now).
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0018**

* * *

 

**0018**

 

**0018: First, ask for her name. Oh, and maybe she knows where the other demons are! You should try to get useful information out of her while she’s not threatening you, and willing to talk. If she agrees to answer your question, maybe you can reach a compromise.**

**0018: Before you make a decision, ask for more information. What does it mean lose bit of itself, or who it’s supposed to be? They seem to be in a safe place, so asking these questions should do no harm**

You lower your scythe. “What do you mean lose bits of yourself?”

“That world makes you forget things. I don’t know my name, or who I am. It was starting to get to the point where I wasn’t even sure if I had any identity before I came through to this world. If I go back there, eventually I’ll stop caring about what I’ve lost, and then there won’t be anything left of me.”

“Do you know if the other demons are the same as you? Also, do you know where they are right now?”  
  
“I’m not sure where the fire demon is; I lost track of her on the way here.. As for the Shadow demon, she is currently somewhere below here.”

In that case the shadow demon is probably still hiding somewhere in the sewers. You’re quite interested by the pronouns that the demon is using. You thought that demons didn’t have a gender.  
  
“As to whether or not they’re the same as me: I can’t be sure. Though, when the rip to your world opened, they were the ones who fought the hardest to get to it. So, unlike most demons, they probably have something to lose.”

 

**0018: Compromise and use your cape for now. You can’t fully trust her yet, but… your heart isn’t so cold as to just ignore someone pleading like that.  
**

**0018: Compromise! Give her the benefit of a doubt. Maybe you could find a better place to talk.**

You let out a sigh and holster your scythe. You don’t quite trust the demon, but you’ll help her for now. If she betrays you later then you won’t have to feel bad about destroying her, and if she doesn’t then you did a good thing. A win-win situation if you disregard the fact that what you are about to do is a betrayal of every single living being on this planet.

“I won’t bind with you,” you say, “because I don’t trust you yet. But you can stay in my cape until you prove to me that I can. It should work as a vessel, and should hide you from most demon scanners as long as you’re not doing anything at the time.”

You hear a gasp of relief from the demon. “Thank you. I swear you will not regret this.”

*+1000 points with the ice demon*

A cold breeze causes your cape to flutter slightly, before falling still. It now feels cool to the touch, but not in an unpleasant way.

You groan as the full weight of what you just did. Sealing demons in objects is a far lesser crime than binding them to you, but if you’re caught you still will definitely go to jail for this.

Not to mention that this kind of makes you obligated to do something similar with the other two demons, at least if they’re the same as this one.

**What should you do now?**

  * Find a way down to the sewers and try to find the shadow demon
  * Try to get to town and locate the fire demon 
  * Wait here and let them come to you
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0019.**

* * *

 

**0019**

 

**0019 think about what you’ll bind the demons to. I mean you can’t put them all in your cape can you?**

Its possible to bind multiple demons of the same, or similar, type to a single object, but that’s clearly not an option here.  
  
Crescent Rose was made with future enchantments in mind, so it would work for one of the two remaining. You’ll figure out something for the third demon later.

**0019: First, check if the ice demon can communicate with you from the cape. If she can sense the shadow demon, she might be able to help you pinpoint demons in general, but that won’t amount to much if she can’t update you. Also, she’s going to need a name. You have a feeling she won’t appreciate “Whitie” any more than the shadow demon liked “Blackie.”** ****

**0019: Remember that Belladonna hadn’t try to hurt you either. Ask if the ice demon has a name and if she doesn’t offer to give her one. Like “Snow”?**

“Hey, can you hear me from in there?”

You hear a voice speaking directly inside your head.“…When was the last time you washed this thing?”

“Three days ago. Why?”  
  
“Its all sweaty. Don’t you have anything else I can stay in?”

“You’re seriously going to start complaining already?”

“Alright fine but please wash it as soon as possible this is really uncomfortable.”

“I’ll do it later. Is there anything that I can call you? I really don’t want to keep thinking of you as just ‘the ice demon’.”

“I don’t mind what you call me as long as its not something stupid.”  
  
“How about Snow then?”  
  
She seems to take a moment to consider this. “…Its somewhat uninspired, but it will do for now.”

**0019 head to the sewers. Start with what you know, the fire demon will find you by themself probably** ****

**0019: Try to find a way down the sewers to look for the shadow demon preferably somewhere distant from the school. Having 2 demons inside the school is already too dangerous.**

“I’m going to try and find the shadow demon. Can you help me track her?”  
  
“If you can get us down to whatever place she’s in, then yes I should be able to.”  
  
“I saw her escape down into the drain outside, so she’s probably down in the sewers.”  
  
“………..Please don’t let this end with me getting covered in raw sewage.”

“I’ll try to avoid it,” you chuckle.

———————————————————————————-

As you make your way down to the school ground, you desperately try to not think about what you’ll do when you gather all three of the demons together. How long will you have to keep them hidden? Possibly your whole life if you don’t find a permanent solution before then. Even if you do somehow accomplish that, they’d get sent back to the other world when you die anyway.  
  
Whatever. That day is a long way away.

……At least, you hope it is.

As you get to the front door, you see that Winter, along with some of the other Atlesian hunters, has set up a security checkpoint at the front door. They are scanning everyone who enters and leaves the building, particularly their shadows. In theory Snow should be undetectable while in the cape (unless the have a REALLY sensitive scanner), but do you really want to take that chance?  
  
 **What do you do?  
**

  1. Find another way out
  2. Be confident in your deception, and go right on through.
  3. Other (please specify)



**The number is 0020**


	6. 0020 => 0022

**0020**

 

**0020: Find another way. Considering how Winter reacted earlier, you don’t want to get skewered along with your beloved cape. Especially since it might also hurt Snow now.**

**0020: Go find another escape route. It’s too risky to go there. If they detect Snow, she’ll be no doubt sent back to the Otherworld in a blink of an eye.**

There’s no doubt that at some point you’ll be put in a situation where you will have to figure out a way to deceive Winter or be discovered. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t put it off for the moment.

Most of the other exits from the building are also watched in a similar fashion, but you eventually get out via a small window in the girls bathroom. Luckily for you there don’t seem to be many hunters out in the school grounds, as being caught outside without permission in this situation would probably be game over for you.

You gradually make your way around the side of the school until you come to a maintenance hatch leading to the sewers, which you (reluctantly) pry open using Crescent Rose. You climb down into the sewer, and discover that, rather than the massive expanse of twisting tunnels that years of gaming led you to expect, its mostly just one long tunnel lined with the various pipes leading from toilets and drains. All the pipes drain into a moderately large, and stinky, river of sewage in the middle. You’re more than a little thankful for the fact that the walkway you’re standing on is high and dry above it.

“Just go right from here and we’ll get to her eventually,” Snow informs you.

You start walking, hoping ‘eventually’ arrives quickly. Before long Snow speaks up again.

“Do you know who that huntress back at the entrance to the school was?”

“She’s Winter Schnee. She’s really cool, but was able to spot the shadow demon really easily so we should probably stay away from her.”  
  
“…Actually can you please let me get a closer look at her?”  
  
“Um… Ok I guess I could. But why?" 

"I feel as though I know her from somewhere, and that means that she might know me.”

“Really? Wait, does that mean that you were once…”

You stop dead, as you begin to hear footsteps coming down the tunnel. Of course they would have sent hunters down here to look for the shadow demon, how could you be so stupid as to forget about that fact.

This is bad. You could hide behind one of the larger groupings of pipes, but it would take a miracle for them to not spot you as they walk past. You could also try hiding in the stream of sewage, but not only would that be gross, but you would later have the near impossible task of explaining away the stink of you and your clothes.  
  
Running is also an option, but these guys are pro hunters who were sent down here to deal with a shadow demon. You’re pretty darn fast, the fastest runner in Signal in fact, but you doubt that outrunning them would be possible.

**What do you do?  
**

  * Hide behind the pipes
  * Take the plunge
  * Try to flee
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0021**

* * *

 

**0021**

 

**0021: Actually, run into them deliberately. Pretend to be an overzealous student ready to do your duty as a huntress. You have your weapon, you’re already associated with stopping a ritual, and you ARE a student. Roll deception check!**

A plan forms in your mind. Its audacious to say the least, and if it doesn’t work you are screwed, but its better than being covered in poop. You set off at a run towards the approaching hunters.

“What are you doing!?” Snow screams in your head. “You’re going to get us both caught!” You just ignore her.

As soon as you come into view of the two hunters you immediately stand to attention and give your most exaggerated salute.  
  
“Trainee huntress Ruby Rose reporting for duty! I heard that a demon was loose below the school and came to offer my assistance!”

The two of them are stunned by your sudden appearence and declaration for a few moments, until one of them bursts out laughing.

“Wow kid! I never thought I’d meet someone so eager to come crawling through a sewer. Good for you!”  
  
“What do you mean good for you?” The second one splutters. “Its too dangerous for a trainee to be down here! There’s a demon for god’s sake!”  
  
“And what demon would that be?” The first shoots back. “We’ve been searching up and down this goddamn sewer for hours and haven’t seen a single sign of it. If I were the demon, I would already be long gone by now.”  
  
“I guess so… We should still report this girl in though.”  
  
“For what? Helpfulness and enthusiasm? Come on, both of us have done things that were way more risky for way stupider reasons. Lets give her a break ok.” She turns to you. “Listen, me and my partner won’t report you for being here this time, but don’t do it again, ok?”

You nod eagerly.

“Great! We’ll both go on ahead and clear the other hunters away from the exit so no one else decides to book you. You come out in five minutes or so when its clear. Later kiddo!”

The two of them start making their way back out of the tunnel. You release a sigh of relief when their footsteps finally fade into the distance.

“That went way better than it should have.” Remarks Snow. “They must not have known that you were the person we were looking to bind ourselves to.”

A voice comes from the shadows. “Its not really that surprising. Those two aren’t nearly as competent as the huntress I fought earlier.”

You turn and see a pair of amber eyes staring back at you from the shadows of the pipes.

“Hello there Ruby. Its good to see you again.”

***Belladonna appreciates the fact that you came looking for her. +500 points!***

You wave awkwardly. “Hi there Belladonna. You are ok with that name right?”  
  
“Yes. Its feels comfortable to me. Familiar even.”  
  
“Wait how come she gets a name like Belladonna when I’m stuck with something boring like Snow?” Snow grumbles indignantly.

You wince. “Sorry. I thought you said you didn’t mind though.”  
  
Snow’s only response to that is a non-verbal “Hmph”. It doesn’t feel like she’s too mad though.

***-50 Snow points***

“Anyway. I can’t bind with you yet since I don’t really trust you guys yet, and I’d also probably be hunted down and killed,” You say to Belladonna, “But I will give you a place to stay if you want it.” You hold out Crescent Rose for her to enter.

“Thank you. I’ll accept your offer, but I won’t need to stay in there.” With that, she proceeds to flow down into your own shadow and merge with it. It feels kind of weird to you, like there is now a tiny amount of weight to your shadow.

“Won’t Winter just spot you like that again?” You ask, feeling more than a little nervous.

“Not unless she goes around stabbing the shadows of every single person she comes across or I do something like this while she’s in the room.” Your shadow gives you a small wave. “She got lucky the first time, I won’t let it happen again.

You nod, feeling somewhat reassured by her words.

In any case, you’ve now got to decide what to do next. You could go looking for the fire demon immediately, thus minimising the risk that it will be caught by a hunter in the meantime. It is getting a bit late though, so perhaps the less risky choice would be to just return inside for the night and continue in the morning.

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Leave Beacon to continue your search.
  * Go back to your room.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0022**

**Author’s Note: This was a really good prompt! You were presented with two doors, both containing potential disaster, and instead decided to kick down a wall! Kudos to whoever sent this in.  
Also I did actually roll a D20 in response to this and it landed on 19, which is why I decided to have everything go so well.**

* * *

 

**0022**

 

**0022: Ask your new companions what they think you should do since they also have a stake in this. Ask if the fire demon is even nearby (even better her location if they can manage).** ****

As you start to make your way out of the sewer, you ask your companions’ opinion on what your next course of action should be.  
  
“It would be less dangerous for us if you waited the night before continuing,” Belladonna says after a moment of thought, “But I’m not the one left out alone in a hunter-infested city, so it would be hypocritical of me to not support going out to look for her.”  
  
“I agree,” adds Snow. “Besides, the last time I sensed her she seemed to be in the worst shape out of all of us. She might have gotten better since then, but I don’t want to risk her fading into the other world during the night.”

Well it seems pretty unanimous. You then ask them if the can sense her location right now.

“I’m afraid not,” says Snow, sounding more than a little downcast. “The only reason we can even tell that she hasn’t already been destroyed is the piece of her that’s still inside you.”

**0022 We all know Ruby likes to take risks, so lets try to find the fire demon. Start at wherever the hottest place(temperature-wise) in Vale is. As good a place to start as any.**

Everywhere in Vale is hot right now, its the middle of summer after all. You doubt that the fire demon would be hanging out in a curry store or inside someone’s oven. Maybe somewhere where there was a fire?  
  
Wait a minute. Didn’t you hear about a fire earlier…..

**0022:** First things first, you should ask Snow and Belladona if they sense the fire demon anywhere close. where could it hide… **Hang on, didn’t Dad say he was delayed by a fire?**

“The ferry!” You say out loud. “The ferry was on fire! She might be on Patch island right now.” You feel happy about having figured that out for a moment before it hits you how many problems it causes for you. “Oh no… There’s no way we’ll be able to get there and back quickly enough that no one notices that I’m missing. Plus the ferries will have stopped running for the day by now, so we’d need a bullhead or something…”

“Maybe you could convince someone to take you there in one,” suggests Snow. “You’d need a good reason to go there though.”

The best reason that you can think of right now to is to visit Yang, but you doubt that an excuse like that would convince anybody to take you. Dad would sympathise, but given that he’s already travelled from Patch once today you doubt that he would be willing to make the round trip a second time. Ozpin might sympathise a little bit, but you don’t really know him well enough to make a judgement. The only other people who you can talk to who might be able to take you to Patch today are General Ironwood or Winter. As far as you can tell neither of them seem to be the types to sympathise with sisterly concerns though…

**What do you do?  
**

  * Ask someone to take you to Patch via bullhead (specify who Ruby should ask)
  * Steal a Bullhead despite having no prior experience piloting any kind of vehicle
  * Give up for today and try again tomorrow
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0023**

**Author’s Note: Ok I normally try to make every single option balanced in their apparent pros and cons but this is the single most obvious choice so far (at least it should be for you guys, not so much for Ruby)**


	7. 0023 => 0025

**0023**

 

**0023: STEAL THE SHIP! WE GONNA BE PIRATES!!**

You never know, that might be a good plan B if someone discovers what you’ve been doing.

**0023: Appeal to Winter, maybe she has a sister she misses! It’s a longshot, but this day has been crafted from longshots, so you might make it.**

**0023: Ask Winter for a lift. She seems to like you, and at any rate Snow did express an interest in taking a closer look at her.**

**0023 ask winter for help. Explain her Yang’s situation if you need to. It’s your best bet. (Plus you get Snow close to her! Two birds one stone)**

“I’m going to go ask Winter if she is willing to give us a lift. Make sure you guys keep quiet.”  
  
Winter is still by the front door where you last saw her. She frowns slightly when she sees you.

“Ruby. When did you get outside? No one at the checkpoints saw you leaving.“  
  
You put on your best innocent face. "Oh, uh, I guess I must have just missed them. Maybe they went to the toilet or something.”

Winter stares at you for a few tense moments, seemingly considering the veracity of your statement. Eventually she nods, accepting it.  
  
“Is everything alright? I can understand that this whole affair must be quite stressful.”

“Yeah it is. Is it alright if I ask you a favour? I need to go see my sister over on Patch Island. I know that the demons probably aren’t going to target her, but I just really need to see her.”  
  
There’s a flash of sympathy in Winter’s eyes, but she shakes her head. “It seems a little excessive to make that trip at this time of the evening. Perhaps you should just call her for now.”

Her careless statement hits something within you, and you feel unbidden tears welling up in your eyes. “I… I can’t call her. She’s been in a coma for the past two years.”

Winter’s stoic facade instantly crumbles into a look of pure horror. “Oh… I am so  sorry, I didn’t mean…” She turns to one of her subordinates. “Ready a bullhead to go to Patch immediately.”  
  
“Th-thank you.” You say to her, sniffling slightly. Going to visit Yang had been an excuse up until a moment ago, but now you really do need to see her.

Winter smiles sadly. “I also know what its like to lose a sister. Sometimes I wish that I…” She takes a deep breath and composes herself once again. “I will accompany you as an escort, lets go.”

***Winter feels a kinship with you through your shared experiences with loss. +750 Winter points***

————————————————————————————–

You sit in the bullhead opposite Winter. Snow and Belladonna are both quiet, not wanting to risk any activity that might cause her to perceive them.

  
It will be at least an hour before you arrive. Do you have anything to ask Winter before then?  
  


**The number is 0024.**

* * *

 

**0024**

 

**0024: Ask winter what motivated her to be a huntress**

Winter gives a wry smile at your question. “Believe it or not my reason was teenage rebellion. My father owns one of the largest businesses on the planet, ‘the Schnee Conglomerate’, and his intention was for me to follow in his footsteps and take over the company when he retired. I never liked my father, and I certainly didn’t want my life to be dictated by what he wanted out of me, so I joined Atlas’ hunter academy at the first opportunity. My father fought against it of course, but it is against the law in Atlas to deny hunter training to anyone who wishes for it, and so he failed.”

She shakes her head sadly. “Of course, this meant that all of his expectations fell on my sister. I was hoping to encourage a similar rebellion in her, but…” She falls silent.

**0024 ask about her sister?** ****

**0024: It’s a sensitive topic so don’t push if she doesn’t seem willing to talk, but try asking Winter about her sister. It could be good for both of you.**

“What happened to her?” You ask. “If you don’t want to talk about it that’s fine though.”  
  
“No its fine. She was kidnapped during a company event at our home.”

You gasp. “Was it cultists?”

“No, not this time. Evidence at the scene seemed to suggest the White Fang, or one of the other groups of faunus militants, were the culprits, but normally when something like this is done by a militant protest group they all would rush to claim the credit. This time that didn’t happen, and so I didn’t believe that they were the culprits. My father did though, and started waging an all out war on them and the entire faunus specie

"That’s terrible.” You gasp, horrified.  
  
Winter nods. “He was already a bigot, but this escalated his racism to new levels. It was completely pointless in the end, as the culprits, when they were discovered a year later, turned out to be a pair of humans who had framed the faunus in order to cover their tracks. They pretended to be delivering food for the event, and used a refrigerated truck to kidnap her. They never tried to ask for a ransom, because they forgot to turn off the refrigeration in the back of the truck where they were keeping her. She died, frozen to death.”  
  
She places her head in her hands. “Oh Weiss… You deserved so much better.”  
  
The temperature of your cape suddenly drops.

She looks up at you again, clearly only barely holding back tears. “Tell me about your sister Ruby. What was she like?”

**0024: Offer to tell her about Yang, “The Bestest Sister Ever!”, if she would like to hear. It might cathartic. Contemplate on introducing Winter to Yang as well when you arrive.**

You spend the rest of the journey telling Winter about your sister, trying to focus on all the happy stuff like how she used to bake cookies for you, playing videogames, and the time you spent training to be huntresses together. Occasionally Winter would chime in with a memory about Weiss, details like her singing voice, or how she used to do her hair up with a ponytail on one side.

By the end of the trip, Winter seems much happier. But before you get out of the bullhead, you decide to ask her one last question that’s been bothering you.

**0024: Ask Winter if she ever wonders what Demons feel, try to get her to see the other side of the coin. If you’re caught with Belladonna and/or Snow, you’ll probably need all the sympathy you can get to save them.**

“Winter, do you think that all demons are really evil? Maybe there are some that don’t want to fight us.”

Winter gives you a quizzical look. “What makes _you_ think that there are demons that are anything but monsters out there?”  
  
“I don’t know, its just been bothering me for a long time.”  
  
She sighs. “No. I don’t think that there are any that are not evil. You’ve probably already seen plenty of Grimm, how monstrous they are, but they are nothing. The day you meet a true demon, one with intelligence, you will know that there is no mercy or kindness in their soul.” She smiles at you. “It is a nice thought though. If it were only true, then the war that we hunters have always had to fight may eventually have an end.”  
  
 ***You and Winter bonded through discussion. +250 Winter points.***

**You have arrived at Patch island. What do you want to do?**

  * Talk with Snow and Belladonna
  * Go home and visit Yang
  * Prioritise finding the demon
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0025.**

**Author’s note: In case any of you were wondering, a character will become open to romance when you reach 2500 points with them.**

* * *

 

**0025**

 

**0025: You should go visit Yang first, you really do miss her, and it would be less suspicious isle Winter saw you.** ****

**0025: Let’s go visit Yang first. After all that has happened and hearing about Weiss, sounds like you need this.**

**0025: Go home and visit Yang. Why not talk to Belladona and Snow along the way?**

**0025: First things first. Why did the temperature of the cape drop? Are you okay, Snow?**

You start heading in the direction of your home, with Winter following a couple of steps behind you. Its on the outskirts of town, but not out of walking distance. As you walk you ask Belladonna if she can tell if the fire demon is anywhere near.

“She’s close.” She responds. “In fact, we’re actually heading in her direction right now.”  
  
That’s slightly concerning, especially considering you have no reason to believe that its not the standard, malicious variety of demon. You really hope that Yang is alright.  
  
There’s also the matter of Snow’s momentary freak out back in the bullhead.

“Are you feeling alright Snow?” You ask her quietly. “You kind of froze my butt a little back there.”

“…Its Weiss.” She responds, her voice little more than a whisper.  
  
“What about her?”

“No. I mean that I’m Weiss. Its my name. I think that Winter is my sister.”

You barely manage to stop yourself from yelling out loud in response to this revelation.

“What do you mean you were Winter’s sister? That would mean… That would make you… YOU USED TO BE HUMAN?!?!”

“I think so. I still don’t remember much aside from my name, but I do remember feeling cold, and it didn’t feel good like it normally does. It got so cold that I fell asleep. When I woke, I was in the other world.”  
You’re starting to feel very freaked out now. “What about you Belladonna? Were you human once too?”

“No, but… I’m starting to think that perhaps I used to be a faunus.”

It would be no exaggeration to say that this changes everything you know about demons. Does this mean that all Demons are actually deceased humans? Are Weiss and Belladonna just special? Is the fire demon….?

A thought enters your mind. Could it be possible that the fire demon is actually…. Surely not. But if it chose to come here, to your home, then how could it be anyone else…

Your house finally comes into view, and you break out into a sprint. You’ve never been religious, but you start praying to whoever might be listening for your hunch to be correct.

You knock urgently on the front door, pausing only for barely a second to greet your neighbour, an elderly woman named Opal, when she answers it. You dash upstairs into Yang’s room, and lock the door behind you. Yang’s body is lying on the bed as always, looking peaceful, but what catches your eye is the tiny candle flame floating just above her forehead.

“Yang. You’re back.” You know its her. You can feel it without any doubt. And when she speaks, its Yang’s voice, although quieter, weaker.

“…Ruby. You’re Ruby aren’t you? That’s the only thing I managed to hold on to, that I managed to remember…. This was my body wasn’t it? I can’t go back in, its not letting me. Please, you have to help me.”

**What do you do?**

  * Bind her to you immediately! This is your sister, you can’t just leave her like this.
  * Just house her in Crescent Rose. If you act rashly now then all it will do is make things worse for you both.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0026.**


	8. 0026 + Part 1 Epilogues

**0026**

 

**0026: Cry**

You’re already doing that. She’s here. She’s finally back with you.

**0026: Bind her to crescent rose. Dont let your emotions take over your thoughts.**

….But she’s your sister. You can’t just leave her like this. _She needs to be with you._

**0026 House her in CR. I know binding to her is tempting, but considering your main goal should be to get her back into her body, binding may not be a good idea. It might get in the way of that. It’s not a risk worth taking.**

_….She won’t ever have to leave you again. She won’t be able to leave you again._

**0026: I know you want nothing more than to be with your sister again, but binding with her would only complicate matters. House her in your weapon and see if you can find out why she can’t go back in her body.**

_………_

**0026: Tell yang that you will find a way to get her back to her body but for now, you need to house her in your weapon until you find a solution.**

You shake your head a bit to clear it. Yeah it would be really dumb to bind Yang to you right now. You don’t really know why you were so fixated on the idea for a second there.

You cup the flame in your hands. Its hot, but doesn’t burn you. “You’re Yang Xiao-Long.” You say to her. “You’re my sister, and as soon as we get the chance I am going to tell you every single thing I know about you until you remember everything.”

“Yeah… That sounds good… Do you have somewhere I can sleep? I feel like I’m going to fade away if I don’t.

You hold out Crescent Rose, and the flame flows into it. The formerly cold metal becomes warm to the touch.

***Yang’s pre-existing trust in you means that you have +1500 Yang points!***

You lean down and give Yang’s body a hug, and silently swear to do whatever it takes to get her back to normal.

As you go downstairs you see that Winter has sat down to a cup of tea with your neighbour. She gives you a small smile, and you smile back. How would she react if she knew what her sister had become? No doubt she will find out someday, and you want to make sure that their reunion is a happy one.

Finally you think of Belladonna. You still know nothing about her, not even her real name. Her story is probably also not a happy one if the pattern holds, but you want it to at least have a happy ending.

From here on out you are going to be walking a tightrope. Hunters and huntresses on one side. Demons and cults on the other. But you aren’t afraid in the slightest, because you won’t be walking it alone. 

——————————————————————————–

This is the end of part 1 of The Ruby Ritual! Before part 2 begins, vote on which of the three epilogues you wish to see first.

Epilogue 1: Plans

Epilogue 2: Future

Epilogue 3: Success

You will see all 3 before we begin part 2 (where we will start Ruby’s time as a student at Beacon), but I wanted to give you a choice about the order in which you see them. Also please send me feedback about what you think of the story so far! Is there anything (or anyone) you want to see more of? Is there something that you want me to do better? Do you just want to say something nice? Please send it in I thrive on that stuff.

**The number is 0027.**

**Author’s Note: From here on out the option to complete the binding to Ruby will always be available (although I will not list it most of the time). Doing this will allow the other three members to take physical form, and give them an enormous boost in power (along with Ruby, on account of the massive amount of demon that is now a part of her). Of course, doing this is absolutely irreversible, will paint a permanent target on Ruby’s back for every hunter in Remnant, and will cause huge negative reactions from pretty much every single person Ruby knows. (Maybe more than that. Power always comes with a price).**

**You can tell people about Ruby’s arrangement with the demons, but they will universally have a negative reaction unless their relationship level is fairly high (Around 3000), or you have a way to immediately prove to them that you’re not doing a bad thing.**

**Even in their current state the three demons do have some useful powers. Yang’s powers pretty self explanatory (heat things up and set them on fire). Weiss’ powers are basically the equal opposite of Yang’s, also self explanatory. Blake’s powers are the least useful in combat (in her current state), but she can do stuff like retrieve objects that Ruby otherwise could not reach, enter and pick locks, or detach from Ruby’s shadow to go investigate an area up ahead (which can potentially be risky).**

* * *

 

**Epilogue 1**

“What is your plan here Ozpin?”

“I’m not quite sure what you mean Glynda.” He answers while facing out the window. She hated it when he did that, it was so pretentious.

“You know exactly what I mean. Admitting Miss Rose into Beacon in her current state is madness. While I have nothing but sympathy for the poor girl she should be quarantined given the threat she poses. How do we know that the demons haven’t already came into contact with her?”

“They might have done so. However as long as they remain unbound they pose no real threat. I trust that Ruby, as Summer’s daughter, will know to do the right thing. A far more pressing issue is who arranged for the ritual to be performed. Have you completed the analysis on the knife?”  
  
“Yes. It is a hunter tool dating back to more than eight thousand years ago, designed to sever a connection between a demon and its host. Sadly it does not seem to present a solution to Miss Rose’s problem as using it will result in irreparable damage to the soul of the host.”  
  
Ozpin’s brow furrows in thought. “It might have just been a useless purchase on the part of the cult, but perhaps, if this first ritual was indeed a test, the individuals that were truly responsible intended to use that knife to deal with Ruby had she proved to be uncooperative.” He finally turns to face Glynda. “Send your findings to the other three kingdoms. We may need to prepare for war.”

* * *

**Epilogue 2**

In a seemingly abandoned building at the edge of Vale, two teens, a silver-haired boy and a green-haired girl, sit at a table playing poker. The boy holds two twos, a four, a six and a seven, an uninteresting hand to say the least. Nevertheless, he smiles, and when he lays his hand down on the table it now consists of two kings and three jacks, a far more impressive full house.

The girl smiles. “Not bad Mercury.” She lays down her hand, a royal flush. “But not good enough.”

“Oh come on!” He splutters in outrage. “The odds of a hand like that are over 600,000 to one! You’re obviously cheating!”

“You’re saying that as if you aren’t. You know the rules Merc, either tell me how I did it or pay up.”  
  
For a few moments he sits there just gritting his teeth, before taking out his wallet and slapping the last few bills he had down on the table. “One of these days Emerald I swear I will…”

  
He is interrupted when the door opens, and a shifty looking man in a white jacket enters the room.

“I hate to butt in when you two are on the verge of killing one another, but you have new orders from the boss.” He drops a pair of envelopes on the table in front of them. “Apparently we’re counting the fact that the bowl didn’t explode this time as a success and moving on to the next phase.”

“What is the next phase?” Asks Emerald as she opens her envelope. Inside is a student ID for Haven academy.

“Hell if I know! She never tells me anything! All you guys have to do for now is go to Beacon, pretend to be transfer students, and wait for further instructions. Neo will go with you and pretend to be your teammate, and Cinder will join in a few weeks once she’s finished with whatever the hell she’s up to right now. In the meantime I’m saddled with the unenviable job gathering up a bunch of idiots with nothing to lose for future rituals, so if you have any complaints about having to play student for a while you know where to stick them.”

“What a dick.” Mercury mutters as Roman leaves the room. “He is right about Cinder not telling us anything though. It would be nice to know what we’re actually going to be doing for once.”

“Oh come on use your brain for once. What else could we be doing?” Emerald’s face breaks out into a wicked grin. “We’re finally going after a Titan.”

**AN: So the second epilogue came out as something that was far less interesting than I thought it would be so I decided to skip it. 0027, the first post of part 2, will come out a bit later.**

 


	9. 0027 => 0029

**0027**

 

“…From this day onward you four will be team rune.”

It’s been three weeks since you retrieved Yang back at Patch. Since then you’ve had little time to yourself, as despite the fact that your acceptance to Beacon was accelerated you still were required to complete the entrance exams. It was boring and time consuming, but you didn’t find anything too difficult (although a lot of the normal applicants didn’t seem to agree).

During your spare time you try and restore Yang’s memories by telling her everything you can remember about her. It was somewhat effective, but many important memories still lay beyond her reach, most notably her memories of the day of the forest fire.

The other two had also made little progress. Weiss now knows her identity, but is still unable to recollect any specifics. Belladonna was able to recall her first name, Blake, but the rest of her identity was still a mystery.

Eventually you started your first official day as a student at Beacon, and it went great! You ended up partnering up with Pyrrha, Nora, and Nora’s partner Ren, and taking out a deathstalker and a nevermore! Thus team RRVN was created!

This of course does make keeping your other teammates a secret more difficult, but you’re never averse to making new friends.

  
And so your days at Beacon begin!   
  
**Choose an event! (2 time slots until next minor story event. 6 time slots before major story event.)**

  * Bullies
  * Reading Material
  * Team Bonding
  * Artifacts
  * History Class



**The number is 0028.**

  
_AN: I decided to skip doing the first day where Ruby teams up with NPR since it was basically a slightly altered version of how it went down in the show and no one is interested in that let’s be honest._

* * *

 

** 0028 **

 

**0028: Let’s do some team bonding! We had little time with Pyrrha and Nora before, and you’ve never met Ren before.** ****

**0028: Do some team bonding exercises! You already know Pyrrha a bit, and have Nora’s unwavering loyalty, but further bonding will only make you a better team! Plus you don’t know Ren very well yet, and he seems like someone you’d want to know better.**

As soon as the team-naming ceremony was complete one of the first things you decided to do was take your new team down to one of the on-site cafes for snacks and introductions.

“Alright team! We’re going to be working together for the next few years so we should start by getting to know each other. Since I’m team leader I’ll start. My name is Ruby Rose. My favourite colour is red and my favourite food is strawberries, followed closely by cookies. My hobbies are reading and weapon design. I became a huntress because I want to become a hero like my mom was.”

“What was your mother’s name?” Asks Pyrrha. “Just so I know if I’ve heard of her before.”  
  
”Her name was Summer Rose. You probably haven’t heard of her though, she didn’t really like publicity.”

“I can respect that.” Says Ren. “Anyway, I’ll go next. My name is Lie Ren, though I prefer to go by my surname. My favourite colour is green, and my favourite food is curry, although I can’t really handle the spicy ones. My hobbies are martial arts and cooking. I became a hunter partially to keep an eye on Nora, and partially due to personal interest. Also, so we avoid any awkward situations later, I’m asexual.”

“His cooking is really great!” Exclaims Nora. “Just don’t try any of his health drinks if you value your tastebuds. Anyway, its my turn! My name is Nora Valkyrie. My favourite colour is pink and my favourite food is pancakes. My hobbies are eating the stuff that Ren makes and karaoke! I became a huntress because it’s a job where I’m paid to smash things.”

Karaoke huh? That sounds fun. You’re going to have to remember that for your next team bonding session.

Pyrrha was the only one left. “Hello everyone. My name is Pyrrha Nikos. My favourite colour is yellow, and my favourite food is peaches. My hobbies are painting and cross-country jogging. I became a huntress because I always wanted to help people, and becoming a huntress seemed like the best way to do that. I didn’t really expect to get so famous so quickly though…”

You clap your hands together. “Alright guys! Now that that’s out of the way lets work together to make sure that team RRVN is the best team in Beacon!”

* **You gained +200 Ren points, +100 Pyrrha points, and +100 Nora points (fewer points were gained for Pyrrha and Nora as you knew them beforehand)** *

**Choose an event! (1 time slots until next minor story event. 5 time slots before major story event.)**

  * Bullies
  * Reading Material
  * Artifacts
  * History Class



**The number is 0029.**

* * *

 

**0029**

 

**0029: What’s this about bullies?**

**0029: Meet the bullies, so you can lead your team into glorious battle against them!** ****

**0029: Bullies, huh? If we want to be a hero, we have to save everyone!**

“… you filthy animals should be locked in a zoo!”

Your ears prick up as you hear this while walking down the corridor leading back to your dorm. Immediately you run in the direction of the source and find team CRDL, one of the other first year groups in your class, ganging up on a rabbit faunus.

“Hey! You leave her alone!” You yell at them, not willing to just stand by and watch this abuse take place.

The leader, Cardin Winchester, turns to look at you and gives a cocky smirk. “Oh wow, the toddlers come to play hero.” He pulls out his weapon, a wicked looking mace. “Beat it squirt, or else this is going to get really painful for you.”  
  
You reach for Crescent Rose, preparing yourself for a fight. Before you can pull it out though, someone’s bag rockets over your shoulder and hits Cardin with a heavy-sounding thud, knocking him flat. You turn to find out who threw it, and see a furious-looking girl wearing a beret standing behind you.

“What the hell do you think you are doing to my girlfriend?” She snarls through gritted teeth.

“Oh shit! Its her!” One of Cardin’s cronies exclaims in horror. They turn heel and run, tripping over one another to get away.

“Damn racists.” The girl mutters as she walks over to retrieve her bag, giving the unconscious Cardin a kick as she does so. She turns to you with a smile. “Thanks for standing up for my teammate here. I’m Coco, leader of team CFVY. What’s your name?”

“I’m Ruby.” You tell her, before adding “You’re really cool you know,” which causes her to laugh sheepishly.

“My name’s Velvet.” Says the faunus girl. “Sorry you had to get involved in that.”

Coco rolls her eyes. “She wouldn’t have had to if you’d just kicked their asses. Come on Velv, you could have broken those guys in half!”

“My mom always taught me that violence never is the answer…”

“Yeah that only applies when they don’t start it.” Coco sighs and turns back to you. “My girlfriend isn’t always this meek I swear. Especially when we’re back in the dorm room.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively.

“COCO NO!” Velvet exclaims, blushing furiously.

“What? I’m just saying you get really competitive during team game night. Anyway, thanks again for standing up for her Ruby, hopefully we’ll see you again soon.”  
  


***You gained +500 Velvet points and +500 Coco points!** *

***Blake appreciates the fact that you stood up for Velvet! +500 Blake points!***

**________________________________________________  
**

**Minor story event: Transfer students**

As you’re walking across Beacon’s courtyard you spot the girl from the bookshop walking across the school grounds along with a boy you don’t recognise. You go over to say hi.

“Um, Hi. I think I said something to annoy you last time, and I just came over to say sorry for doing whatever it was.”

The girl’s eyes widen as she finally sees you. “Oh, its you… Um… Merc would you wait here a sec?” She grabs your arm and drags you away out of earshot of the boy. “Listen, Mercury doesn’t know that I’ve read those kiddie books and I will never be able to live it down if he finds out. I’m going to pay you one hundred lien right now and in exchange you are going to leave me alone, pretend that we’ve never met before, and never speak of that stupid series to any of my team-mates.”

That’s a decent amount of money, but would it be right to accept it from her? You could also use this to convince her to join the book club you’ve been thinking of setting up. The rest of your team-mates are up for it, but you need at least a fifth member to get it recognised as a proper club.

 

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Take the money (cut ties with Emerald)
  * Refuse the money (Won’t make befriending her impossible, but she still might try and avoid you)
  * Convince her to join your club (will annoy her in the short term, but you may get more chances to make amends)
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0030**


	10. 0030 => 0033

**0030**

 

**0030: Convince her to join the club! Point out that it would give her a private spot to slip away from her friend to read whatever she wants.** ****

**0030: Convince her to join your book club! Maybe she’ll warm up to you, and you’ll get a new friend. Can’t spend all your time with just your team!**

 

“Alright I won’t tell anyone. But I don’t want your money, you have to join my book club this weekend.”  
  
”What? No! Can’t you just take the money?”

You give her your best puppy eyes. “Come on, It’ll be fun! You’d get a chance to read without having to worry about your team-mates.”

She seems to struggle with herself for a moment before groaning in resignation. “Fine, I’ll join your stupid club. Your loss.”  
  
You grin triumphantly. “Great! My name’s Ruby Rose by the way. What’s yours?”

“Emerald Sustrai. You had better keep to your end of the bargain or I will make sure you regret it.”  
  
You give her the details of where to meet and what book you’ll be discussing this week before heading off.

 

***Emerald is mildly irritated by you. –500 Emerald points***

**Choose an event! (2 time slots until next minor story event. 4 time slots before major story event.)**

  * Reading Material
  * Artifacts
  * History Class
  * Sparring Practice
  * Book Club



 

**The number is 0031**

* * *

 

**0031**

 

**0031: Let’s go look at some artifact stuff. Maybe you can learn more about the artifacts used to summon Weiss, Blake, and Yang.**

Today’s your first magic and demonology class with Professor Goodwitch. She is beginning the course with a lecture on magical artifacts.

“If a human and a demon were to fight one another with nothing but their natural abilities the demon will win every single time. Demons are more powerful than humans, this is an unfortunate fact that will never stop being true. Of course, this doesn’t mean that the gap cannot be closed through artificial means. The first of these means is through the construction of weaponry sufficient to damage a demon, which is a subject that I am sure you are all intimately familiar with. We will be talking about the second method today, the process of using the power of demons to fight against them.”

She holds up her riding crop, which begins to emit a faint purple glow. “By imbuing an inanimate object with the power of a demon we are able to use it ourselves. These objects are commonly known as artifacts.” She flicks the crop upwards slightly, and everything sitting on the desk behind her levitates upwards and begins circling around her. “This is the quickest and easiest method of evening the odds between them and us. No doubt many of you already have some form of artifact in your possession, as recent advancements have made the creation of low-level artifacts far safer. Once a demon was required to imbue an artifact with power, however we are now able to draw the required energy directly from their world. The process remains time consuming and costly however, which is why they are only produced for the most promising hunters in training.”

She returns the floating paraphernalia to the desk. “When you are out on missions, you may discover, or recover, artifacts from past eras. By law, these artifacts belong to the finder, but you must always first return them for inspection as they may have a dangerous effect, or worse, house a demon. However, even if it passes all the tests and you become the user of a particularly powerful artifact, you must not become over reliant on its power, as this has lead to the deaths of many a promising young hunter.”  
  
_________________________________________________________

   
After the class has ended you ask your team if they own any artifacts.

Pyrrha points to her circlet. “It allows me to control the polarity of metal objects, turning them into magnets. Its very useful against opponents with metal weapons, but I always feel bad using it when tournaments allow artifact use.”

Ren holds out stormflower. “They’re enchanted to produce a shield that reflects the energy of an opponents attack back at them. The stronger the enemy, the more powerful the counterattack. I haven’t tested them to see if there’s a limit though.”

Nora pulls out a pendant shaped like a lightening bolt. “Mine absorbs electricity and uses it to make me stronger. It feels awesome, like I just drank ten cups of coffee at once. What about you Ruby?”

You unfold Crescent Rose. “I don’t really have anything aside from my sweetheart here, but its all I really neeHOLY HECK!” You yelp in surprise as the blade of the scythe suddenly erupts into flames. Upon seeing your team mate’s faces you quickly think up an excuse. “Oh uh, yeah its also enchanted with fire magic. I’m not really used to it though so I sometimes switch it on too suddenly.”

Thankfully they seem to buy that explanation. At the first chance you get you excuse yourself from the group and go to the toilet. As soon as you lock the door you start mentally berating your scythe’s occupant.

”What the hell Yang! You almost got us caught!”  
  
”Sorry Rubes. I just figured that if they thought that my power was an enchantment then I’d be able to use it in fights while they’re around.”  
  
”Yeah I guess that is a good idea, but just warn me next time so I don’t get freaked out again.”  
  
”Will do!”  
  
* **You gained the ability to freely ignite Crescent Rose** *

 

**Choose an event! (1 time slots until next minor story event. 3 time slots before major story event.)**

  * Reading Material
  * History Class
  * Sparring Practice
  * Book Club



**The number is 0032.**

**AN: Please do not abuse anon to send multiple votes. Artifacts won even without your contribution which is why I wrote it, but I will turn anon off if it continues to be abused. Don’t think I won’t notice.**

* * *

 

**0032**

 

**0032: Sparring! Fight someone! Burn off that excess energy!**

**0032: How about some Sparring Practice? Get a feel for Nora and Ren’s fight style and skills, so you can better work together.** ****

Combat training was the lesson that you had most frequently, with a double period scheduled at least once every two days, as well as plenty of chances for extracurricular training. Occasionally there would be fights against captured Grimm, or short trips into the emerald or forever fall forest, but mostly you sparred against your team mates. This constant sparring rapidly gave you an excellent picture of everyone’s capabilities.

Ren is fast and able to adapt to new situations rapidly, but unfortunately lacks the stamina to last in a long fight. This means that he is best suited to quickly darting in and out of combat, giving support to other hunters when necessary, and avoiding solo confrontations.

Nora is a devastating front line fighter, and is fantastic at taking on the larger species of Grimm. She does have a weakness against the smaller, faster varieties that hunt in groups though, and while she does partially compensate for this with Maginhild’s grenade launcher form, she still would be quickly overwhelmed if left alone in that kind of situation.

Pyrrha on the other hand excels in pretty much any position. She is able to adapt to any situation, able to alternate between close combat and giving long range support with Miló’s rifle form depending on what the situation demands. The only thing that can even be called a weakness for her is the fact that she has nothing that can easily deal a sudden decisive blow to an opponent, but this is more than compensated for by you and Nora.

You yourself are best suited to providing long range support with Crescent Rose’s sniper form, only entering closer ranges when your team is fighting large groups of enemies. Your scythe is fantastic at cutting through Beowolves and Ursa, but has a harder time getting through the thick scales of King Taijitu or carapace of a Deathstalker (although Yang does help a bit with that).

Today however, you are not sparring against your team. Fighting the same opponents too frequently would make you weaker when it comes to dealing with someone new, and so today you’re paired off randomly against members of different teams. Pyrrha fights CRDL (all of them, at once), and wins with little effort. Nora and Ren are paired off against the other two members of team CVFY, Yatsuhashi and Fox, and lose, albeit only barely.

Finally, its your turn to fight. You descend into the arena and meet your opponent, who turns out to be one of the transfer students in Emerald’s team. She’s extremely short, has her black hair done up in two pigtails, and seems to be fighting using some kind of rapier.

**What will be your strategy for the fight?**

**The number is 0033.**

**AN: I originally planned for the sparring practice event to take only one part like the others, but I figured you guys would want some input into this one.**

* * *

 

**0033**

 

**0033 Your fast. It’s sorta your thing. Use it to your advantage by keeping away from her while sniping. It could give you a chance to figure out her fighting style before engaging her up close.**

**0033: You don’t know her abilities, but if she has a rapier, it would be best to stay out of her shorter range. She’s probably fast, too, that’s the kind of weapon that require speed and precision.**

**0033: Start by staying long range and see if you can tease out her capabilities.**

Her choice of weapon suggests an opponent that favours a battle at close range, which is where Crescent Rose is at its least effective. On the other hand this means that she is likely to be weak at a distance, so you decide to take advantage of this.

The second that the signal is given to begin you unfold Crescent Rose into its rifle form and fire a salvo of rounds at your opponent. She is impressively quick, and dodges most of the bullets, except for one that clips her right shoulder. You’re using special rounds designed for sparring, and so none of them will give her more than a bad bruise, but you can attest to how much getting hit by one hurts.

For about a minute you fall into a pattern of shooting and running away while she attempts to close the gap between you. You aren’t able to hit her again as she always manages to either dodge out of the way or knock the bullets right out of the air with her sword. Even so, it appears that the exertion is beginning to tire her out, and you begin to think that you have the fight in the bag.

This proves to be a mistake. You end up fumbling when you try to reload, and she uses that opportunity to finally close the distance between you.

**0033: Use a defensive, counterattacking strategy to feel her out. Make a better plan from there.**

 

Your fighting style normally relies on more aggressive tactics to quickly overwhelm an opponent, but this time you decide to play things a bit more defensively. You use your scythe’s handle to block and parry the flurry of blows. It quickly becomes clear to you that if not for the hit her sword arm took, along with her exhaustion from your shoot and run tactics, you would be beaten in an instant. As it is, you are barely able to hold on.

Eventually it becomes her turn to slip up. She lunges just slightly too far into your guard, trying to get a hit in. You quickly spin your scythe, knocking her sword far out of her grasp. Without missing a beat, you unfold your scythe fully, and use the blunt edge to pin your opponent to the ground. For a few glorious moments you relish your victory, until you feel a slight prick on your stomach, and discover that she was concealing a second knife.

“Where were you hiding that?” You exclaim.

She just smiles. A sinister smile that sends shivers down your spine.

Over in the stands Miss Goodwitch declares the fight a draw, and you let her up. Even though mere moments ago she looked like she was about to collapse from exhaustion, she now looks fresh as a daisy. She makes a few hand signs at you before strutting off. You quietly ask your demonic companions if any of them understood her.

”I did.” Says Weiss. “She said: Next time I’ll fight seriously.”  
  
You really hope that that next time doesn’t happen soon.

 ***You’ve become an interesting opponent to Neo. +1500 Neo points** *

* * *

**Minor Story Event: The Reporter**

As you’re walking across the courtyard one day you notice a rather forlorn looking man sitting over on one of the benches. He spots you looking at him and perks up slightly before walking over to meet you.

”Excuse me miss, my name is Rook, and I’m a reporter looking to do a piece on the trainee hunters of Beacon. I don’t suppose you’d be willing to give me a short interview?”  
  
What do you do?

  * Agree to his interview
  * Agree to his interview, but ask that your name be kept out of the article
  * Decline
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0034.**


	11. 0034 => 0036

**0034**

 

**0034: Ask for more details about the interview.**

You ask him what the interview will involve.

“Its nothing big. I’m just going to ask you a few questions about what your life at Beacon is like, what you learn in the classes, that kind of thing. A surprisingly large amount of the population know very little about how hunters are educated, so I’m doing this to help change that.”

**0034: Let’s help the poor guy out, but ask to remain anonymous.** ****

**0034: Agree to his interview, but ask that your name be kept out of the article.**

“I’m fine with answering your questions, but would it be ok if you kept my name out of the article?”  
  
He smiles. “Oh fantastic, I won’t have to use the drivel spouted by those CRDL idiots! Not being able to name you as the source for my information is slightly inconvenient, but I’m not the kind of journalist who’d want to force someone into an uncomfortable situation. Honestly its kind of disgusting how the press treats hunters these days. When there’s no crisis they denounce them as a ‘drain on resources’, and when there is they complain that hunters aren’t working hard enough to prevent disasters. Its hard to find an honest individual in my profession these days. Come to think of it that’s probably why I’ve had so much trouble getting an interview, but now I’m rambling. How about you start by telling me what a typical day is like for you…”

He proceeds to ask you various questions about life at Beacon, which you answer to the best of your ability. At the end of the interview he hands you his business card. 

“If you ever have a story for me, or find something that you feel the world needs to know about, please give me a call. I’m always looking for a new scoop.”  
  
You take the card and say your goodbyes.

 ***You got the Journalist’s business card** *

**Choose an event! (2 time slots before major story event.)**

  * Reading Material
  * History Class
  * Book Club
  * Magnetic Problems



**The number is 0035.**

* * *

 

**0035**

 

**0035: Say, is Pyrrha having Magnetic Problems? See if she needs help with that.**

**0035: Whats That? Magnetic problems?**

  
You heave a huge sigh as you stare up at the hammer lodged halfway up the side of the communications tower. Just moments ago, Maginhild slipped out of Nora’s hands as she did one of her grenade-propelled swings and went flying. Now you face the dilemma of how to get it back down before someone notices and makes you pay for the damages.

“Does anyone have any ideas about how to do this?” You ask your teammates.

“I don’t think climbing up would work,” replies Ren, “the side of the wall has no handholds, and we’d probably get spotted on the way up.”  
  
”We could try a grappling hook,” Nora suggests helpfully, “although we’d need a really long rope.”  
  
”…Or I could just pull it out with my magnetism.” Finishes Pyrrha.

“Its actually strong enough to reach all the way up there?” You exclaim in amazement.

“Yes. I try not to use it at full power too much though, as I lose all control and everything thats nearby and made of metal just gets pulled right towards me. One of us will need to take everything metal that we have and take it far away from here before I start though.”

You offload everything on Nora, who wouldn’t be able to stick around due to the metal clasps on her outfit, who then dashes off back to the dorm to wait for you.

Pyrrha begins as soon as Nora gets out of sight. A faint black glow forms around her body. After a few seconds you start to feel a tingle in the air. A few seconds more, and coins dropped by other students begin flying towards Pyrrha from all over the courtyard and sticking to her skin, but she doesn’t stop. Eventually you see Maginhild start to wobble slightly.

”Yes!” Pyrrha exclaims in delight upon seeing this. “We’ve almost got…”  
  
Her sentence is cut short as a large object rockets into her at high velocity, sending her flying. Immediately you and Ren rush over to help your friend, and discover that the ‘object’ that had hit Pyrrha was actually a girl.

“Salutations!” She exclaims. “It is very nice to meet you all”  
  
”Um… Hi.” You reply. “Do you mind getting up off our friend?”  
  
”OH! I am so sorry.” She gets up, helping Pyrrha to her feet as she does so. She turns to you and holds out a hand. “My name is Penny. What is yours?”

You take her hand and shake it. “My name’s Ruby, and my team-mates are…” Movement catches your eye above you, and you quickly pull Penny towards you, barely saving her from Maginhild’s descent.

Penny gasps. “You saved me… Does this mean we are now friends?”  
  
”Um… Sure I guess.”

“How wonderful! Thank you very much friend Ruby, I will never forget this moment!”  
  
She walks with you back towards the dorm, chattering inanely all the while, until she sees General Ironwood and says her goodbyes. You feel slightly overwhelmed, but you find yourself to be quickly growing fond of the strange girl.

 ***+1000 Penny Points!** *

**Choose an event! (1 time slot before major story event.)**

  * Reading Material
  * History Class
  * Book Club



**The number is 0036.**

* * *

**0036**

 

**0036: Let’s check out the Book Club! Bring along the series you remember Emerald was reading a few days ago if you have it; she might like to finish the later volumes.** ****

**0036: TO BOOK CLUB!**

“Thank you for all coming to the first monthly meeting of our club.” You say enthusiastically as you look over the group that has gathered in your dorm room. In addition to your team and Emerald, you were also able to convince Velvet to come join in. “Today we will be discussing ‘The King’s Ransom’, the first book in the end of magic series. Did everyone finish reading it?”  
  
Everyone nods except for Nora.  
  
”I was only able to get through the first quarter, sorry. It was really funny though, especially the bit where they escape from the guards in the second chapter. I’m gonna try and finish it eventually.”

“As long as you gave it a try and enjoyed it that’s all that matters. What about the rest of you guys?”

Emerald shrugs. “I guess it was alright.” You wait to see if she has anything else to add, but move on when it becomes clear ­that nothing else is forthcoming.

“I liked that the main character was openly asexual.” Says Ren. “You don’t see many books like that.”  
  
Velvet gives him a nod. “There was also good faunus representation too. We’re too often put into roles as villains or fan service, so the lack of that kind of thing was also nice to see.”  
  
”I really liked Kayla, it’s a shame that she wasn’t the main character.” Says Pyrrha. “Vates was funny, but far too ruthless to be called a hero.”  
  
Emerald scoffs derisively. “You don’t get it.”  
  
Pyrrha turns to her with one eyebrow raised. “Really? Care to explain why?”

“The whole point of the two main characters was the contrast between Kayla’s idealism and Vates’ pragmatism. Kayla wants to create a better world, and believes that the only way to do that properly is by doing the right thing all the time. Vates wants the same thing, but considers it impossible to achieve without getting their hands dirty. The constant ideological conflict, along with the fact that the author does not give a real answer about which one of the two is right, is what elevates the story above being just a generic fantasy story.”

“Wow Emerald, you really must have thought about that a lot.” You say with a chuckle.

She shrinks back slightly in embarrassment at your words. “Yeah well it was kind a good book I guess….”

Emerald doesn’t say anything for the rest of the session, but as the group disbands you nevertheless feel that your first meeting was a success.

***Emerald enjoyed the club despite herself. +1000 Emerald points!***

***+100 Ren, Pyrrha, Nora, and Velvet points!***

* * *

 

Once a week all the students in Beacon gather for an assembly. This week Miss Goodwitch has a special announcement.

“Three days from now the first year will be departing on their first major hunting expedition. You will be split into groups of three teams, accompanied by a teacher, with each team being in charge of either scouting, extermination, or recovery.”

“The roles of these teams are simple. The scouts are in charge of finding groups of Grimm for the second group, the exterminators, to destroy. The scouts must also make sure to not lead the exterminator group into a fight that will not be favourable to them. The recovery group will be in charge of long-range support, as well as moving to bail the other two groups out of tough situations when required. While the recovery team may not see as much action as the other two, it is nevertheless a vital role, as if a situation occurs where the accompanying teacher is forced to step in, the exercise will be considered a failure for all of you.”

“I will now read out which teams will be grouped up. First we have team SPRE…”

  
Team RRVN gets grouped up with Emerald’s team and, unfortunately, team CRDL. After the assembly is over you meet up with Cardin and Cinder, Emeralds team leader, to decide what role you will all be taking.

“We’re gonna be the exterminators.” Demands Cardin. “Either of you two got a problem with that?”  
  
”I have no preference.” Responds Cinder. “What about you Miss Rose?”  
  
 **What do you want to pick?**

  * Try to take over the extermination role from CRDL
  * Pick the scout role
  * Pick the recovery role



 

**The number is 0037**

 

**AN: The book they discussed during this part is one of my own story ideas just fyi.**

 


	12. 0037 => 0039

**0037**

 

**0037: Leaving Cinder in charge of watching our backs seems like a REALLY BAD IDEA! Lets go with recovery.**

**0037: Take the recovery role. If Cardin wants to dive into the thick of it, and likely get in trouble, then thats fine. We’re more then capable of bailing him out if necessary. You get the feeling Emerald’s team will be fine.**

**0037: No reason to start an argument with CRDN, you should go for the recovery role, since you have good ranged options in case something happens. Ruby and Pyrrha have good sniper capabilities, and Nora can straight up bomb far away Grimm if need be, while Ren is super observant, so it would be a good choice.**

“We’ll go with recovery. Pyrrha and I are both good at long range, and all of us are pretty good at covering distances quickly, so it’s a good choice for us.”

Cardin scoffs. “Don’t count on seeing any action,” he says, before skulking off.

Cinder gives a sigh. “How arrogant. I wouldn’t worry too much Ruby, I’m sure you’ll get your chance to show how skilled a huntress you are.”

**-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-**

The destination of your trip is a place known as stone mushroom forest. As you fly over it its pretty easy to see why, as all over the forest there are massive mushroom-shaped stone structures towering over the trees. They were probably created by some demon a long time ago. Generally most geological weirdness in Remnant can be attributed to some demon or other.

But as impressive as the mushrooms are, you completely lose interest in them as your destination comes into view: the single most ENORMOUS tree you have ever seen in your entire life.

“That is Yggdrasil, the largest living orgainism in the world.” Miss Goodwitch explains. “Legend states that its massive size comes from a great demon living inside it, which will emerge to defend its home should anyone attempt to damage the tree. We do not know how much of this legend is true or not, but given that the demon, should it actually exist, has not actually taken any actions against us we have decided to avoid provoking it. Besides, it would be a tragedy if such a magnificent specimen were destroyed.”

The bullhead lands in a clearing a short distance from the tree. Miss Goodwitch hands out radio-like devices to every one of you, and proceeds to explain a few final instructions. “You have from now until sunset to destroy as many Grimm as possible. Your radios must always be on at all times so we can track your position, as well as your performance. Foolish actions that endanger the group as a whole will result in strict penalties. Good luck. Begin.”  
  
Team CRDL immediately goes charging off into the forest. Cinder’s team follow on moments later, trying to get ahead so they can properly perform their roles as scouts. You feel really glad you chose recovery now.

“So what’s our plan team leader?” Asks Ren.

**What do you do?**

  * “We should climb up on top of one of the mushrooms. It won’t give us much cover, but we should be able to see for a very long distance.”
  * ”We should climb up Yggdrasil and sit on one of its branches. We won’t have as much visibility, but we should avoid detection by any Grimm that might get in our way when it comes time to bail out CRDL.”
  * “We should tail the other teams. We will have to fight off any Grimm that CRDL miss, and we won’t have any long-distance view of the forest. but we should be able to get to the others much more quickly if a crisis occurs.”
  * Other (please specify)



 

**The number is 0038.**

* * *

 

**0038**

 

**0038: Ask Blake, Weiss and Yang if they have any idea… Oh, and can they sense Grimm at all?**

You ask your other three teammates if they can help with locating enemies.

“I’m afraid that demons who have taken over host bodies are significantly harder to detect than ones that are loose, so we won’t be able to help you there.” Says Weiss. “If we do detect something then tell everyone to run, as it will mean that a demon has appeared that is too powerful to be properly contained in its host.”

 

**0038: Split up the group - two on the mushrooms and two on the tree. That way it’s harder for a full party wipe if you’re ambushed. Ren and Nora should go mushroom for optimal vantage while you and Pyrrha can make up for it with sniper shots from the tree.**

“Alright here’s how its going to work guys! Pyrrha and I will climb partway up the tree in order to get a better vantage point, and we’ll provide sniper support from there. Meanwhile, Ren and Nora, you guys are going to go get on one of those big mushrooms and keep a lookout from there. That way you guys can spot when things start going bad and move in from there.”

Nora and Ren both give you a nod and set off, while you and Pyrrha head off  to the tree. Climbing the tree isn’t too hard thanks to the enormous recoil of Crescent Rose. Soon you and Pyrrha have settled comfortably on a wide branch just above the forest’s canopy. You slash away some of the leaves blocking your view with your scythe and sit down to wait.

“Its so beautiful.” Pyrrha muses. “Its hard to believe that it was probably all created by demons.”

”Maybe some of them aren’t so bad.” You respond. “Maybe we just think they’re all evil because the only ones we’ve really met have been the evil ones. I mean there’s good and bad people in the world, so maybe it’s the same with demons.”  
  
Pyrrha sadly shakes her head. “That’s a nice idea Ruby, but there has never been any sign of such a demon existing.”

You both sit in silence for a while, occasionally firing pot shots at Grimm that enter your sights. Eventually the radio crackles on, and Nora reports in.

“Hey guys! CRDL just met some guy wandering through the forest. Its kind of weird that someone would just be wandering out here, aside from us I mean. Maybe he’s a hunt….oh no.” Her voice takes an urgent tone. “We’re going in to help them, please assist.”

For a moment the line goes dead, before being replaced by Cardin, who is clearly in as state of panic. “WE NEED HELP NOW! IT’S A FUCKING MONSTER! OH GOD IT GOT SKY…”

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Both you and Pyrrha head down to help
  * Send Pyrrha to help while you give sniper support
  * Call Miss Goodwitch (can be taken along with any of the other options)
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0039.**

* * *

 

**0039**

 

**0039: Send Pyrrha and provide sniper support.** ****

**0039: Call Ms Goodwhich then provide sniper support. If this thing is so dangerous that Sky is already down, they need help quickly so send Pyrrha down. Her shield could prove invaluable at keeping your friends and CRDL alive.**

“Pyrrha, you go and help them. I’ll provide sniper support from here and keep an eye out for any other enemies coming your way.”

Pyrrha gives you a nod and proceeds to dash off in the direction of CRDL. Meanwhile you pull out the radio and contact Miss Goodwitch.

“Miss Goodwitch, we need your help. Team CRDL are being attacked by an unknown human-like enemy. Sky is already down.”  
  
”I am afraid you are on your own Miss Rose. We are also currently under attack. If I were to attempt to leave to aid you before dealing with the situation here, I would only end up drawing more hostiles toward your current position. Please survive until then.” The line goes dead.

It looks like you’re on your own.  
  
 **0039: Take a look at what’s going on with them through CR’s scope.**

You look through Crescent Rose’s scope at the battle that is taking place.

The ‘person’ that Nora described earlier is unmistakably possessed by a demon, their heavy mutations being a by-product of the battle between, and eventual fusion, of their two souls. Its limbs are disturbingly long, and all four of them end in hands tipped by wicked claws. It has a monstrously large mouth, too big to even close, and its body is covered by pulsing black veins.

Sky is currently lying face down in a pool of blood. The rest of CRDL, despite being in a clear state of panic, are managing to hold the creature off for the time being, but the battle is clearly not going too well.  
  
You take aim, quickly calculating the distance and wind speed in your head, and fire a shot at it. It lands right on target, and you see a gout of blood explode from the demon’s chest. It turns in your direction and roars at you, but this momentary distraction allows Nora to knock it flying with Magnhild as she enters the fray. Despite this, the creature doesn’t stay down for long.

As you start looking for an opening for another shot you hear a voice coming from below you.

“Guhhhh… What a pain…”

You looked down and saw another demon. This one appeared more human than the other, with the exception of its, literally, bronze skin, and a pair of gargantuan arms that force it to walk on its knuckles like a gorilla.

“Damn it,” it mutters to itself. “How come I have to be the one to track down that stupid cape girl… I wanna go kill the others… This is so dull…” It sniffs the air. “Oh good… I’m getting close…”

**It looks like you don’t have much time until it sees you. What do you do?**   
  


  * Try to escape it by climbing higher up the tree.
  * Run in the direction of your team so you can group up with them and fight it.
  * Descend the tree and fight it alongside your _other_ three team-mates
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0040.**

* * *

 

 


	13. 0040 => 0044

**0040**

 

**0040 Ask Weiss, Blake and Yang if they know anything about a demon like this one.**

You don’t need to. This type of demon is the kind that results when someone tries to bind a demon to themselves when they don’t have enough willpower to handle it. The demon then proceeds to spread across the body and soul, like an infection, warping it in the process.

By the look of him this one has some affinity with earth, specifically metal. Its bulkiness suggests that most of its power is being used to bolster its own physical abilities, so it probably won’t use much magic, if any. Weiss, Blake, and Yang weren’t able to sense it coming, so it isn’t one of the stronger demons. However that doesn’t mean that it is necessarily weak, or that you should underestimate it.

**0040: Fight the thing! Your allies seem to have the other one user control, and with Weiss, Blake, and Yang you should at least be able to hold your own while the others deal with the other demon.** ****

**0040: Descend and get ready to fight! If that thing gets up the tree, you’ll lose any hope of escape. Pray that everyone else can handle a 10v1 and save Sky.**

It would be best to try and defeat it yourself. If you lead it to the others then that just doubles the number of opponents they have to face. Even if you aren’t able to defeat this thing, you could at least buy some time for the others to beat their demon, and then call them to help you with this one. Besides, since you’re alone, you can get help from Weiss, Blake, and Yang.

You leap out of the tree, and give Yang the command to ignite Crescent Rose. With some assistance from gravity, you manage to land a heavy blow upon the demon’s back as you fall. You aren’t quite able to pierce its metal skin, but you do manage to score a deep scratch into its back, which burns red-hot from Yang’s fire.

“HOT! DAMN IT THAT BURNS!” It turns to face you, baring a wicked set of metallic teeth. “YOU! She didn’t tell me you were working with those damn demons! Well whatever. This is just gonna make killing you more fun!” It charges at you, galloping along on its fists at high speed.

 **You have about three seconds to think about what your battle strategy will be. What do you want to do?  
** **  
(For this battle, and all future battles where Ruby chooses to fight alongside WBY, you will able to also send commands to Weiss, Blake, and Yang due to their mental link with Ruby.)  
**

**The number is 0041.**

* * *

 

**0041**

 

**0041: This is probably pretty obvious but speed is our biggest advantage here. Stick to hit and run tactics with priority on the run part since it can tank more than a few hits whereas we are currently a mere squishy human (something that I personally hope we can change at some point).**

At the last possible second you jump out of the way of the demon’s charge. It charges into Yggdrasil with the kind of force that would turn any normal tree into a pile of splinters. As it is, the impact leaves a several metres wide crater in the side of the tree. If you get hit like that even once you’re going to be reduced to a little ruby smear on the ground.

You charge in to counterattack. This proves to be difficult however. Its huge arms give it long reach, and so it is difficult to get close enough to land a good hit.

**0041: its skin is made of metal but what about its eyes? blake should go and try to attack its eyes while ruby distracts it**

“Keep it busy, I have an idea,” you hear Blake whisper in your head.

As you continue to dart in and out, dodging its swings and trying to find your chance to get a hit in, you see your shadow slowly start to stretch towards the demon. The shadow begins creeping up its leg, then its back, and splits into two sharp points as it crests the demon’s shoulders. Then, quick as a striking viper, the points rear up and jam themselves into its eyeballs.

The demon screams in pain, rage, and confusion. Its blind flailing is far easier to dodge than its earlier attacks, and so you are able to jump in and attack. Over and again you strike it with your blazing scythe, but although you leave its pitted with scratches and glowing red hot, you have yet to deal a decisive blow.

**0041 If she can, have Weiss attempt to freeze it. Going from hot to cold that quickly should make it’s skin much more brittle even if she can’t actually freeze it.** ****

**0041 Metal tends to warp if there is a temperature unbalance. Weiss, Yang, try to take advantage of this.**

You feel Weiss slip out of your cape. “Ruby, step back for a second. I’ve got an idea.”

You do so, and the frigid wind that is Weiss rushes forward and buffets the demon with extreme cold. The heat of Yang’s flame had caused the metal to expand, so cooling it so quickly caused it to rapidly contract. Large cracks begin to appear across the fissures you carved into its skin with your attacks.

Without missing a beat you leap forward and jam Crescent Rose into one of the cracks and slice upwards. The demon lets out a gurgling death-cry and keels over. You are victorious!”

“Team Ruby wins!” You cry happily.

 ***Fighting together has brought you closer. +500 points with Blake, Weiss, and Yang** *

Your joy is short lived though as you realise what just happened. You just killed someone. Sure they were possessed by a demon, and sure they probably deserved it with the way they were looking forward to killing you, but you still just _killed_ someone. You’re starting to feel kind of sick…

“Ruby, I’m sorry to rush you, but I think I can feel something inside of the big tree.” Says Yang. “I think metal muscles’ attack might have woken it up. So you might want to figure out what we’re doing next quickly.”

 

**What do you do?**

  * Go to your team
  * Go locate Emerald’s team
  * Go to help Miss Goodwitch
  * Try radioing everyone first
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0042.**

* * *

**0042**

 

**0042: Check on your team first and foremost. They’re your friends and your responsibility. On your way to them, make radio contact with Emerald’s team to make sure they’re okay. If you have time, contact Glynda too, but she has tons of experience and can take care of herself so don’t worry about it if you can’t.**

**0042: Regroup. If Yang’s right, you don’t want to be anywhere near this tree when it wakes up.**

You take a deep breath and force yourself to calm down. There will be time to freak out about the fact that you just killed someone later, right now you need to go help your teammates. You set off in the direction that you last saw them in.

As you are running you pull out your radio. You decide to contact Emerald first since its been ages since you last saw her group. She picks it up after a couple of buzzes.

“Yeah, who is this?”  
  
”Its Ruby. Are you guys all ok?”

“Ruby! You’re ok. That’s… that’s great! We got attacked by someone possessed by a demon. We were able to beat it, but not before it broke Merc’s leg.”

You sigh in relief. “So you’re all okay? Thank goodness, I was really worried ”

“Wait… you were worried about us?”

“Of course! We’re friends aren’t we?”

“Yeah… right…” She seems to hesitate for a moment before continuing. “Anyway, we’re heading back to the bullheads right now, so we’ll see you there later.”

“Be careful. Miss Goodwitch was fighting something there when I last called her. It might not be safe there yet.”

“Being near Miss Goodwitch is probably still safer than out here, but we’ll keep that in mind. See you later.” She hangs up.

 ***Emerald appreciates your concern. +500 Emerald points** *

You next try to get into contact with Miss Goodwitch. There’s no response, but you take that to mean that she’s just too tied up with something to respond rather than the worst case scenario. She’s a pro after all, you doubt she’d get taken out so easily.

You soon reach the clearing in which your team and CRDL were fighting the demon, and find the battle is over. The demon’s mangled corpse lies next to a tree. Everyone aside from Sky is up and about, but is clear that the fight wasn’t an easy one even with the numerical advantage. You feel really glad for Blake, Yang, and Weiss’ assistance, as you doubt that you would have had any chance against the metal demon alone.

Pyrrha spots you and runs over. “Ruby, are you alright?”

”I got attacked by another demon, but I was able to beat it. How are the others doing?”

“You beat one of those things all by yourself? That’s… incredible. In any case: everyone is okay except for Sky, but he’s stable for the time being. We wanted to wait for you before we decide what to do next. Cardin, Russel, and Dove all want to go straight back to the bullheads, but the rest of us want to wait for Miss Goodwitch to contact us. You’ve got the deciding vote.”

  
**What do you want to do?**   
  


  * Head back to the bullheads
  * Wait for Miss Goodwitch
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0043.**

* * *

 

**0043**

 

**0043: Most people will probably be heading to the bullheads, so it’d be best to join them.** ****

**0043 You’ve done enough damage for now and Sky is injured. I say pull out. You can also observe what the tree is doing from the safety of a bullhead.**

**0043: Ask them about their demon and how they fought it off** while you wait for Miss Goodwitch. ****

“Emeralds group is already heading back. We should go and join them.”

Pyrrha nods. “Got it. I’ll gather the others.”

The trip back to the bullheads is shockingly uneventful. The forest, previously teeming with Grimm, has seemingly been emptied of all signs of life. You have a horrible feeling that they’ve all fled. You tell the group to speed up

As you are walking you ask Pyrrha about the demon they fought.

“It was fast, but not particularly strong. It was however able to regenerate from pretty much any injury though, so it was hard to get it to stay down after we hit it. We managed to finally put it down after Nora shoved one of her grenades down its throat and blew it to bits. Even then we had to keep smashing the pieces for a while until they stopped coming back together.”

Yikes. That sounded pretty nasty

As you finally arrive at the bullhead’s landing site you are greeted by a scene of pure carnage. The entire clearing is covered in meaty chunks of what you assume were once demons. In the centre of the clearing, covered in gore, Glynda Goodwitch stomps the life out of one particularly tenacious survivor.

“Ah you’re here,” she says upon noticing your arrival. “The members of team CMSN is already in the bullhead, please join them if you would.”

You all hurry to do so, feeling more than a little intimidated by the spectacle. As the bullhead begins to take off you fill Miss Goodwitch in on all the details of what had happened that day, including the fact that the demon had been hunting you down specifically.

“This is all very troubling. It is likely then that they had ties to whoever supplied the cultists with that ritual bowl. And that’s not the only thing…”

She indicates towards the window of the bullhead, and you glance out at the forest below. The trees below are shifting, moving. You suddenly feel very glad that you didn’t choose to stick around.

“I’ll have to put a notice out to not allow anyone to enter the forest until we figure out exactly what is happening here.” Miss Goodwitch continues. “In the meantime, I think that by managing to survive you have all earned a passing grade for this exercise. Well done.”

* * *

When you arrive back at Beacon you learn that every single one of the other groups of students were attacked by demons in the same way yours was. Your group seemed to be attacked by a greater number than the others, and so you’re put under a great deal of scrutiny as the hunters try to discern why your group was such a priority target. Eventually though you slip back into the regular routine, albeit with a lingering sense of unease covering the school.

**Choose an event. (5 time slots before minor plot event. 6 time slots before major plot event.)**

 

  * Vending Machine (Emerald)
  * History Lesson (Lore)
  * Atlesian Reinforcements (Winter)
  * Newspaper (Current events)
  * Concert (Weiss)
  * Reading Material (Blake)
  * Signs (Neo)
  * Upgrades (Nora)
  * Hiding (Penny)
  * Fame (Pyrrha)



**The number is 0044.**

  
**AN: After 5 time periods pass you will be given the option to choose who Ruby will ask out to the school dance. I was not a fan of the arc when it happened in the show, but I kind of wanted to give you the option to choose a date for Rubble. You will be allowed to pick Weiss, Blake, or Yang (if you’re in to Enabler), although obviously given the fact that they lack a corporeal body the date with them will be somewhat different.**

**You’ll need to build up your relationship level with whoever you want to date to at least 2000 for them to say yes, which is why I’m listing which characters each event will have an effect on. You may need to do more than one for a character to make them eligible though.**

**Also just because Ruby is dating one person doesn’t mean that she’s locked out of other relationships. I’m a poly-shipper, so feel free to pursue as many relationships as you all desire. Also don’t feel pressured to max out relationships right now. We are far from done with the story, there will be time later so feel free to pick the lore options if you’re curious.**

* * *

 

** 0044 **

 

****

**0044: I hear there’s a concert being held soon. We should attend it! It might be interesting, and a good break from all the hectic stuff that’s happened recently.**

**0044: A concert sounds like it could be fun.**

**0044: Let’s attend a concert.**

As you stroll along Beacon’s corridors one day you feel a small tug on your cape from Weiss.

“Ruby, please look at that poster.” She sounds nervous.

You turn to look at the poster she’s indicating towards, and your jaw drops. The poster is for a ‘Weiss Schnee memorial concert’, scheduled later today.

“Oh wow… I’m guessing you want to go see that don’t you Weiss?”

“If you can, then please. It might help with my memories.”

You nod and dash off to Miss Goodwitch’s office to get permission to leave for the concert.

* * *

Unfortunately you’re still not allowed out of Beacon on your own, and after the recent attacks the school security is stretched too thin to give you an escort on such short notice. You settle for booking one of the TV rooms.

You grab a bunch of snacks, and settle down in the room just in time to see a girl in a brilliant white dress begin singing the first song.

_“Mirror, tell me something, tell me who’s the loneliest of all…”_

None of you say anything until an hour later when the last song was finished, at which point Yang breaks the silence.  
  
”Wow that was beautiful. It feels kind of weird to be jealous about a memorial concert, but I sure would be pretty happy to have something like that when I’m gone… Oh wait I kind of already am…”

“It was very nice,” responds Blake, “but it felt like the singer had the wrong kind of voice for the songs.”  
  
”…That’s because they were written for me.” Whispered Weiss.

“Written for you? What do you mean?” You ask.

Weiss sighs. “I always had a good voice. One day my father caught me singing, and got me to perform during meetings and parties to entertain the company shareholders. One of them also owned a record company, and so I ended up releasing an album. It got pretty popular, so I started to do concerts up until my dea… kidnapping.”

“Wow, that sounds amazing,” Yang responds in awe. “I wish my singing was that popular.”

Weiss scoffs. “I hated every moment of it. It was what my father wanted, not me. To him I was just a pretty little songbird that he could use to advertise his company. A tool, not a daughter.” She lets out a deep sigh. “I remembered all that while we watched the concert. Until now I wanted to become human again, to get my old life back. But now that I remember what my old life was like… I can’t go back to that, not again… I feel so lost…”

You’re not sure what to say in response to that, but you decide to try anyway.

“Weiss… I don’t have any answers for you. I think that this is something you need to figure out for yourself. I want you to know though, that whatever you decide I will be here for you no matter what.”  
  
”Same here!” Yang declares. “If you need me to go kick your dad’s ass for you just let me know!”

“We’re all looking for our place in this world.” Says Blake. “There’s nothing to say that that place has to be the same as what it once was. We’re in this together, so count on us to help you.”

Weiss is silent for a long while. When she finally speaks her voice shakes slightly. “Thank you… I’m… I’m glad I’m not alone any more.”

 ***+1000 Weiss points** *

**Choose an event. (4 time slots before minor plot event. 5 time slots before major plot event.)**

  * Vending Machine (Emerald)
  * History Lesson (Lore)
  * Atlesian Reinforcements (Winter)
  * Newspaper (Current events)
  * Reading Material (Blake)
  * Signs (Neo)
  * Upgrades (Nora)
  * Hiding (Penny)
  * Fame (Pyrrha)



**The number is 0045.**

**AN: I’m quite proud of this one. What did you guys think?**


	14. 0045 => 0047

**0045**

 

**0045 Atlesian reinforcements? Sounds like a good opportunity to see Winter again, and we could always use a huntress like her add a friend or mentor. Plus, I’m sure Weiss wouldn’t mind seeing her again, even if they can’t actually communicate.**

**0045: Altlesian reinforcements! Maybe you could drop by and say hi to winter? Its been a while since you last saw her**

You’re heading down to the cafeteria for lunch one day, when you hear an argument, with Winter as one of the participants, coming from inside one of the school offices.

“…Vale has no standing army that can protect it outside of its hunters. We must be prepared to play the role of protectors in this situation.”

“Sir, while I understand your desire to help Vale, three dreadnought-class battleships, and an entire division of AK-200 on top of that, might give off the wrong impression to the people. With a force of that level we may start looking less like protectors and more like invaders.”

“It is always better to be over prepared than under prepared. Similar forces will be sent to bolster Mistral and Vacuo.”

”But sir…”  
  
”Enough! You are dismissed Lieutenant Schnee.”  
  
”…Yes sir.”

You try to act casual as Winter comes through the door.

She sighs upon seeing you. “How much of that did you hear?”  
  
”Only the bit at the end, sorry. What was that even about?”  
  
”…I suppose there’s no harm in me telling you, since you would have found out eventually. I’ll explain on the way to the cafeteria, I didn’t have a chance to eat breakfast, so I really need something to eat.”  
  
As you start walking, she begins filling you in. “Have you read the news since your field trip?”

“No, I haven’t had the chance.”  
  
”You might want to. People are starting to go into a panic. There hasn’t been a co-ordinated attack by demons like this in decades. Even though there were no fatalities, Beacon is being attacked by the press for failing to prevent this attack.”  
  
”But that’s not fair!”

“Since when has the media ever needed to be fair? In any case, the commanders in the Atlesian army have decided to send 10,000 “Atlesian Knight-200” combat robots, and three dreadnought-class battleships to each of the other kingdoms.”

Your jaw drops in amazement. “That’s a lot of robots.”

“Indeed. Although the AK-200s will be spread across all of Vale’s towns and cities, that still leaves 3000, as well as the battleships. I’m worried that this is merely a pretence for the Atlesian government trying to gain greater influence over the other kingdoms. Its hard not to listen to someone when they have thousands of troops inside your borders.”

She rubs the bridge of her nose despairingly. “What makes things worse is how much my father is going to benefit from this. Ninety percent of Atlesian military technology is manufactured by, or contains components from, the Schnee conglomerate. This mobilisation will no doubt make him a fortune. I joined the military to escape him, but its hard to do that when his logo is stamped on almost every robot I see.”  
  
”That all sounds pretty bad.” You say, as you both finally reach the cafeteria. “Well its not like you can do anything about it right now. I think you need something nice to cheer you up. They’re serving chocolate cake for dessert today, would you like that?”  
  
Winter gives you a small, but genuine, smile. “Yes, that sounds nice.”

You spend the rest of lunch chatting about less serious topics before parting ways.

 ***+500 Winter points** *

**Choose an event. (3 time slots before minor plot event. 4 time slots before major plot event.)**

  * Vending Machine (Emerald)
  * History Lesson (Lore)
  * Malfunction? (Winter) *NEW*
  * Newspaper (Current events)
  * Reading Material (Blake)
  * Signs (Neo)
  * Upgrades (Nora)
  * Hiding (Penny)
  * Fame (Pyrrha)



**The number is 0046.**

**AN: You know I never used to ship Ruby with Winter that much until writing this (not this part specifically, the fic in general), but now I do. Honestly I ship Ruby with pretty much every female character in RWBY, she is infinitely shippable.**

* * *

 

**0046**

 

**0046: Malfunctions!**

**0046: Malfunction?**

On the day of their arrival, you sit out in the courtyard to watch the Atlesian battleships come in. They’re every bit as magnificent as you imagined they’d be, more than 100,000 tonnes of steel and weaponry between the three of them. The largest ship docks just behind the school, so you decide to go get a closer look.

The area around the ship is bustling with activity when you get there. There are hundreds of the AK-200 robots in the area, along with a few larger mechs. You give a few of them a quick assessment and feel confident that you could take at least five or six of them on at once, although you’d definitely need help with one of the bigger ones.

You see Winter walking down the gangplank of the ship just ahead of a mech carrying a large crate and begin walking over to them. As they reach the bottom of the gangplank, something strange comes over the mech. The lights in its ‘eyes’ turn red, and it lifts the crate high over its head.

Immediately you start running, realising what is about to happen. You know you’re too far away to reach her in time, but nevertheless you push yourself forward harder than you ever have before. As you run, for a split second, it feels as though you have become one with the wind itself. The moment passes as you tackle Winter out of the way, an instant before the crate came crashing down on her head.

“Ruby what are you…” She stops dead as she realises what just happened. “…You saved my life.” For a few moments she just sits on the ground, stunned, before she jumps up with a furious expression on her face. “I am going to have the head of whoever is responsible for this. The occasional glitch I can understand, but something like this is inexcusable.”

“I don’t know… It kind of looked like it was deliberately trying to kill you.”

Winter’s eyes narrow. “If that is the case, then they are going to regret missing their first, and only, chance.” She takes a deep breath, and appears to calm down slightly. “Thank you for saving me Ruby, I will definitely find a way to repay you someday. I’m sorry I can’t stay and talk with you for a little longer, but I need to go and solve my own attempted murder.” With that she walks off.

As you start to make your way back to the dorm you see Mercury leaning up against a crate nearby the ship.

“Nice work with the heroics there Red.” He says before slinking off.  
  
Huh. That was weird

 

 ***Winter is grateful that you saved her. +500 Winter points.** *

* **Weiss is glad you saved her sister. +200 Weiss points.** *

 ***-1000 Mercury points.** *

**Choose an event. (2 time slots before minor plot event. 3 time slots before major plot event.)**

  * Vending Machine (Emerald)
  * History Lesson (Lore)
  * Newspaper (Current events)
  * Reading Material (Blake)
  * Signs (Neo)
  * Upgrades (Nora)
  * Hiding (Penny)
  * Fame (Pyrrha)



 

**The number is 0047.**

* * *

**0047**

 

**0047: Vending Machine! Aren’t you thirsty after all this running, Ruby?** ****

**0047: To the vending machine!**

Generally speaking, you consider most vending machine goods to be too overpriced to be worth it. However, there is one on the east side of Beacon that dispenses these massive, soft, melt-in-your-mouth cookies that aren’t sold anywhere else in the school. Consequently, you find yourself using it on an almost daily basis.

While on your way there one day, you hear a loud curse coming from near the machine. You dash over towards it, and find Emerald staring venomously at it.

“Did it eat your money?” You ask, mildly amused.

“Yes.” She grumbles. She starts kicking it in a rage, trying to dislodge the bag of crisps that had gotten caught inside. “Stupid! Overpriced! Piece! Of! Junk!”

“Hey, calm down, you’re doing it wrong.” You walk over to its right side. “It does this a lot, so I was able to learn where to hit it to get my stuff out.” You kick the side of the machine as hard as you can, resulting in not just the crisps, but two extra bottles of soda getting dislodged.

Emerald looks genuinely impressed by this. “Huh, not bad.” She grabs everything that fell from the slot and tosses you one of the sodas. “Looks like you are good for something.”

“Heh, I try.” You chuckle. “By the way how’s Mercury doing? I saw him up and about a couple of days ago, he recovered really quickly.”  
  
”Oh yeah. It turned out his injury was way less bad then he made it out to be. He’s a wimp.”

Weird. You thought his leg looked pretty badly twisted when you saw him in the bullhead.

“Well, I’m glad that he’s alright.” You take a sip of your soda. “You know one of those demons was actually out to kill me.”

“Well… Yeah they were out to kill everyone.”  
  
”No I mean he was actually sent by someone to hunt me down, I heard him talking about it. I think it was something to do with me getting kidnapped by cultists a while back.”  
  
Emerald suddenly chokes on her drink. Wait, *cough* that was YOU?”

“Uh yeah. Did you hear about it?”  
  
”Of course I did, a bunch of cultists dropping dead during a ritual doesn’t get covered up easily. But I had no idea that you were the girl they tried to sacrifice. And now you’re saying someone is trying to kill you because of it. That… that sucks.” She glances around for a moment. “Listen, I’ve… got to go. Thanks for your help.”

She dashes off.

 ***+500 Emerald points** *

**Choose an event. (1 time slots before minor plot event. 2 time slots before major plot event.)**

  * History Lesson (Lore)
  * Newspaper (Current events)
  * Reading Material (Blake)
  * Signs (Neo)
  * Upgrades (Nora)
  * Hiding (Penny)
  * Fame (Pyrrha)



**The number is 0048.**


	15. 0048 => 0050

**0048**

 

**0048: I vote history lesson. Learning more about the world is never a bad thing.**

**0048: History lesson. Might as well learn more about your world.**

 

History lessons with Doctor Oobleck are always interesting. His hyperactivity aside, it is always clear that he has genuine passion for the subject. You all take your seats, and he zips into the room precisely as the bell rings, as he always does.

“Alright students. Today we will be discussing a subject that I have no doubt you all are highly interested in: the four titans. I have no doubt that most of you already have the basic knowledge of them, but for the sake of those who have never picked a book up in their life would anyone care to tell me what they are, and their names.”

Dozens of hands shoot up across the room, yours included. Oobleck selects Ren.

“The four titans are the four most powerful demons that have ever entered our world. They were so strong that they were able to bind themselves to our dimension permanently, thus becoming impossible to send back to the other world. They were sealed away, but still exist somewhere in remnant. As for their names, they didn’t really have any, and records of communication seem to show that they were offended by the idea that they needed one. However, people have since named them ‘The Star’, ‘The King’, ‘The Flesh’, and ‘The Spark’.”

”Excellent Mr Ren! Ten points to team RRVN, is what I would say if we had such a system here at Beacon. I do have one correction for you however, as the titans are only the four strongest demons that we know to have crossed into our world. Many believe that the demon housed in Yggdrasil is titan-class, in which case I dearly hope it goes back to its dormant state soon. Many also speculate that our moon also once housed a powerful demon, and that it was shattered in ancient times in order to defeat it.”

He takes a swig of his coffee before continuing. “Our knowledge of the titans is sadly greatly lacking. Each time one came into the world humanity was essentially sent back to the stone age before finally sealing it, and so we have little more than their given names to hint at their nature. The one exception to this is The Spark, which emerged into our world a mere three centuries ago, and was defeated with the relatively small loss of a couple of nations. Would anyone care to tell me how this was achieved?”

This time you get picked. “The Spark was basically just made of lightning. This made it really good at fighting, but it was kind of terrible at doing anything else without a host body. At one point some hunters were able to badly damage its host, and so it tried to possess one of them as a replacement. The hunter that it chose was able to fight off its possession long enough to jump into the ocean. All of The Spark’s power ended up discharging into the sea, leaving it powerless for a long enough time for it to be sealed away.”

“Perfect Miss Rose. The location of The Spark’s seal is in fact below this very city. Its power is constantly drawn out of it, and put to good use.” He indicates toward the lights above you. “Now then. As spectacular as that final battle must have been, it was far from the only clash with the titan. If you turn to page 32 of your textbooks we shall take a look at some of the more notable battles…”

The rest of the class passes without incident.

* * *

Headmaster Ozpin has an announcement to make in this week’s assembly.

“In five days time we will be having our school’s annual dance. No doubt many of you are still feeling shaken up over the recent incident, which makes it more important than ever that you all get plenty of chances enjoy your youth. We will also be holding a fireworks display in the evening, provided that conditions allow for it. Also, while I do want you all to have fun, past incidents have resulted in the following restrictions…”

You tune out the rest of what he says, too busy thinking about what to do for the upcoming event. You’ll need a nice dress for it. You could also maybe ask someone out for that day, like a date. The thought makes you kind of nervous…

**Who should Ruby go out with to the dance?**

  * Blake
  * Weiss 
  * Yang
  * Winter
  * Emerald
  * Neo
  * No one (is there even a point to this option being here?)



**The number is 0049.**

**AN: The moment of truth! Also we’re almost at 50 parts, yay!**

* * *

**0049**

 

**0049: Ask Weiss out to the dance! It might be a bit awkward, but you feel like it could work.** ****

**0049: Take Winter to the dance! Schnees should know how to dance right?**

**0049: You just can’t get those beautiful eyes out of your mind~ Weiss.**

**0049: Lets ask out Winter. She seems like a nice, refined woman.**

 

Oh this is bad, you can’t decide. You like Winter a lot, but you also like Weiss. Then there are the added complications of Weiss being an incorporeal demon, and the fact that they’re both sisters and… Oh boy you are really in it now.

You place your head in your hands and groan, which prompts Yang to ask what’s wrong.

“I can’t decide who to ask out to the dance.”  
  
”Really? Who are the contenders?”  
  
You decide to just rip the bandage off and say it. “Weiss and Winter.”  
  
”WHAT!” Exclaims Weiss.

Oh god you forgot she was right there in your cape.

“I’m sorry Weiss, I just like your sister a lot…”

“No, I’m not mad that you like Winter. I already could see that you liked her with how often you  go and talk to her. I just… can’t believe you actually were thinking about asking me. I’m not human…”

“I don’t care about that. I like you. I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, and I’m actually kind of glad I got wrapped up in that ritual. Without it I might have never seen Yang again, and I would have never met you or Blake. I’m glad I was able to meet you.”

Weiss is silent for a long time, to the point that you start to worry that you’ve said something bad. Eventually she speaks again.  
  
”Thank you Ruby. I’m glad to have met you too. You should ask Winter out though, you deserve someone that isn’t… like me.”  
  
”But Weiss I…” You pause, unsure of what to say. Thankfully, Yang chooses that moment to jump in.

“Hey guys, why don’t you just compromise. Ruby can ask Winter out to the dance, and then go and then later you both go and watch the fireworks together.”

You shift uncomfortably. “Isn’t that… cheating?”

“Not if both of them know about it. Just tell Winter you promised to watch the fireworks with someone else who couldn’t make it to the dance, I’m sure she won’t mind. Are you ok with that Weiss?”

“I… yes. I would be fine with that.” Says Weiss.

You feel a weight lift off your chest. “Then… its settled. Now I’ve just got to… ask Winter…” The weight crashes back down on you. You have literally never been more nervous in your life.

* * *

You get Blake Weiss and Yang to wait back in the dorm. You don’t want them around for this. You find Winter doing paperwork in one of the school offices. She smiles as she sees you enter.

“Hello there Ruby, are you having a good day?”  
  
”Uh… Y-yes.” You stammer.

“You seem nervous. Is something the matter?”

“It’s… about the dance.”  
  
”Oh you’re worried about asking someone out?”

You nod.

“I wouldn’t be so concerned. You’re a lovely person, I’m sure anyone would be happy to go out with you.”

“I’ve… uh… kind of already got someone. They’re not going to be able to go to the dance though, so I’m going to watch the fireworks with them.”

“That’s a shame. Is there something you needed from me? If not then I’m kind of busy at the moment.”

This is it. The moment of truth. I was just wandering if… if you… Wouldyoupleasegotothedancewithme?!”

“W-what?” Winter looks absolutely speechless. “This is… highly irregular.”

You wince. “I’m sorry… I just like you a lot. Its ok if you don’t want to…”

“No! I don’t mean that, its just… does your friend know about this?”

”She said that she’s fine with it if you are.”

”Then… I don’t see why not. I could use a bit of time off.” She smiles. “Yes, I will happily go to the dance with you Ruby. If you don’t mind, I really do need to get this work done for now though.” 

Your spirits soar and you give Winter a huge grin. “Yes! Thank you! I’ll see you then.” You leave the room in high spirits.

 

**There’s still a couple of days before the dance. Choose whether or not you want to do one more event or skip right to it.**

  * Newspaper (Current events)
  * Reading Material (Blake)
  * Signs (Neo)
  * Upgrades (Nora)
  * Hiding (Penny)
  * Fame (Pyrrha)
  * Skip to the dance



**The number is 0050.**

* * *

 

**0050**

 

**0050: Lets look at news with the newspaper. The paper of news. the news that helps us look at new news. That newspaper news.**

**0050: you should read the newspaper! Information is the key to success!**

**0050: Newspapers! We gotta know what’s going on, it concerns us!**

 

You finally decide to get around to reading the newspaper as per Winter’s suggestion. Its been a little while since the attack and the Atlesian forces’ arrival, so that news is no longer exactly front-page worthy, but nevertheless there is still a piece lambasting Beacon’s ‘incompetence’. You wince as you read it. You picked this paper because you had believed it to be one of the less sensationalist ones, so if even this one is so sour then things must be getting really bad.

You flick through the rest of the paper, not seeing anything that seems particularly noteworthy, until Blake speaks up.

“Wait, go back a page and look at the article in the bottom left.”

You do so. The piece isn’t particularly eye catching, so you hadn’t noticed it at first, but your eyes widen as you read its contents.

“A skirmish between the White Fang and the Jaws of Menagerie results in three deaths and seventeen injuries.” You read aloud. “Yikes. This kind of thing should be front page news.”

Blake scoffs. “The only thing that the media cares less about than faunus on faunus crimes are human on faunus crimes. But its strange that the White Fang would be fighting against the Jaws. Back when I was alive they were on really good terms. The Fang’s transition into more extreme protest methods shouldn’t have changed that, as Jaws were always a group that encouraged militant action. There is no reason for them to be fighting one another.”

You skim the rest of the article. “It says here that the White Fang started it, and that this isn’t the first time they’ve attacked other faunus groups.”

“That… That makes no sense! Why would they do something like that?” Blake groans. “If only I could remember more of my life. Maybe I would know something that would help explain this.”

You wish you had an answer for her…

* * *

The day of the dance has finally arrived. Weiss, Blake, and Yang all left their lodgings and went off to help Weiss prepare for your date. You’re to meet up with them later on the third floor balcony.

You ordered a new dress in for the event, and it arrived just in time this morning. To your horror you discovered that the shoes that came with it had heels. You had no choice but to wear them, as your only other pair were the boots you wore with your combat outfit.

You’re currently leaning up against the wall, trying to disguise the difficulty you’re having keeping your balance, as you wait for Winter.

“Hello there Ruby. Are you ready for the dance?” You hear her say.  
  
You look up at her and gasp in awe. Her military uniform has been replaced by a brilliant white dress that is effortlessly elegant; regal even.

“Wow. You look beautiful.” You say on reflex.

Winter blushes slightly. “Thank you. I was worried that it would be a bit much for an informal event like this.”

“No, its fine.” You try to take a step forward, but stumble back to the wall almost immediately. “Whoops. Sorry, I’m not used to heels.”  
  
Winter smiles. “I couldn’t stand heels when I was younger. I find that a good trick is to try imagining that you’re currently hunting Grimm on uneven footing.”

You close your eyes and form the mental image. Sure enough, your balance shifts to properly compensate for the heels, and suddenly walking is much easier. 

“Wow, that really works. Thank you.”

You nervously take her hand and lead her into the hall, where the party is already in full swing.

  
  
**What do you want to do first?**

  * Straight to the dance floor!
  * Let Winter lead the way.
  * Find your teammates and introduce Winter to them.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0051.**


	16. 0051 => 0054

**0051**

**0051 The couple dance songs won’t be played at the beginning of the dance. Introduce Winter to your teammates now so you two can focus on each other later.**

**0051: Introduce Winter to your teammates.**

“You haven’t met my teammates yet have you Winter? Let me introduce you to them!”

You guide her towards the table where Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha are currently sitting, busy working their way through a platter of snacks.. Upon seeing you both, Nora leaps out of her chair, her cheeks bulging with mini sausage rolls, and offers her hand to Winter.

“Mmph! Mmm mmph mmph mmph! Mmph Mmmphmmph, mmph mmphmmph.”  
  
(Translation: ”Hello! You must be Ruby’s date! I’m Nora, Ruby’s teammate!”)

Winter hesitantly shakes her hand. “Its… erm… nice to meet you.”

Ren steps up to introduce himself next. “My name is Lie Ren. I’m sorry about Nora, there’s not much that can deter her when food’s involved.”

Nora swallows the mouthful of food and giggles. “I can’t help it, things just taste nicer when they’re smaller!” She sidles up to you and starts whispering in your ear as Pyrrha introduces herself to Winter. “Wow Rubes, you really hit the jackpot getting such a hottie to go out with you. What’s your secret?”  
  
”I have no idea.” You answer honestly.

“Dang it. I was hoping for some tips.”

You tune back in to Winter’s conversation with Pyrrha.

“I must say that your reputation precedes you Miss Nikos. Its nice knowing that Ruby has such a reliable partner.”  
  
Pyrrha smiles at the compliment. “Thank you. Its not just me though, the only reason that Ruby Nora and Ren aren’t as well known as I am is that they haven’t yet entered any tournaments. I couldn’t hope for better teammates than them.”

“Yeah!” Cries Nora. “When we’re together, team RRVN is invincible! Like there was this one time when we were up against this huge Nevermore…”

Nora begins recounting various stories about your time together at Beacon. A few are clearly made up, but you wince as she brings up the incident with Magnhild being embedded in the communications tower. Thankfully, Winter just laughs and comments that she had been wondering how that crack had got there. It’s strange to see her so thoroughly relaxed for once, compared to how tense she normally is. A good kind of strange of course.

Sadly, you are interrupted as an Atlesian soldier walks over and begins speaking to Winter.

”Excuse me, Lieutenant Schnee. We have a matter that urgently requires your attention.”

Winter’s expression turns venomous. “Can’t it wait,” she snaps, “this is my first night off in months, go and get Ironwood if its so urgent.”

The soldier shuffles nervously. “I’m ever so sorry Lieutenant, but we already tried asking the General. He said that he was busy and that we should come to you.”

“Oh good grief.” She turns to you with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Ruby. I’m going to have to deal with whatever this is. Can you wait for ten minutes? I promise I won’t take longer than that.”

You nod. “If they interrupted your night off then it must be important right?”

She sighs. “You’d be surprised. I’ll be right back.”

As Winter leaves with the soldier, you glance around the room for something to keep you busy in the meantime. You’ve already spent time with your team, so maybe you could go talk to somebody else.

You see Emerald sitting off alone in the corner. She looks kind of nervous about something. Maybe you could go cheer her up?  
  
Her teammate Neo is by the buffet table, happily working her way through a large bowl of ice-cream. You could take this chance to get to know her a bit better.

Penny is dancing awkwardly while flanked by two of the AK-200 robots. Perhaps you could keep her company.

You can also see Velvet and Coco off in another corner. You don’t think they’d appreciate you interrupting them, as they seem… busy.

 

**What do you do?**

  * Spend time with Emerald
  * Spend time with Neo
  * Spend time with Penny
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0052.**

* * *

 

**0052**

**0052: Let’s go and see what has Emerald down. We should always try and cheer up our friends.**

**0052: Go spend some time with Emerald! No one should be nervous at a party! …you know that much, it isn’t enjoyable.**

**0052: Let’s cheer up Emerald and ask her what’s wrong.**

Emerald looks a bit down, so you decide to go over and try to cheer her up a bit.

“Hi Em! You don’t look too good, is there something wrong?”

She looks up, and gives a reluctant smile. “Hey Ruby. I’m fine, its just… this is going to be my last night at Beacon.”

“Really? Does that mean you’re going back to Mistral?”

“Not exactly. Its complicated.” She sighs. “I have to admit I pegged you for an annoying little brat when I first met you, but you ended up growing on me. I had fun spending time with you, despite myself. When we first came here, I couldn’t wait to see the back of this place, but now I’m kind of sorry to leave.”

You give her an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry Em. This doesn’t have to be goodbye forever. I’m sure we’ll see each other again.”

“Yeah… Maybe.” She stands up. “I’ve got to go and get some stuff ready. Make sure you stay indoors later, there’s going to be a storm. I’ll see you around.”

* * *

Winter gets back about a minute later. You ask her what the soldier needed her for.

“Some of the robots were playing up, and were taking patrol routes that deviated from the ones set for them. They needed me to use my rank to override them and set things right. I’ve told them to look into whether or not this glitch is related to the accident earlier.”

Just then, the song that had been playing fades out, and a more sedate song begins. Winter smiles and holds her hand out to you.  
  
”May I have this dance?”  
  
You take her hand with a nervous nod, and allow her to lead you on to the floor. You’ve never done this kind of dancing before, but with Winter leading you you’re able to figure things out enough to avoid stepping on her toes. Being so close to her feels really nice…

“This is the first time I’ve ever been to one of these school dances.” Winter comments. “I wish I had taken the time back when I was enrolled at Atlas.”

“Why didn’t you?” You ask.

“Every hunter school introduces some element of randomness when creating teams in order to prepare the students for times when they have to work with unfamiliar people. Unfortunately sometimes this results in teams that are… hard to get along with.”  
  
”You didn’t like your team?”  
  
”They were competent enough in the field, but I didn’t like to spend more time with them than I had to. Unfortunately this resulted in my social life being somewhat lacking in general. This is actually the first time I’ve gone on a date.”

“Your first…” You swallow nervously. “Am I doing a good job?”  
  
She laughs softly. “Don’t worry Ruby, I’m having a wonderful evening.”

You spend the rest of the party together on the dancefloor. All good things must come to an end though, and so eventually the call came out that the fireworks display would begin in ten minutes.

“You’d better go.” Says Winter with a slightly sad smile. “I wouldn’t want to keep your friend waiting.”

 

**How should you say goodbye?**

  * Kiss her
  * Don’t risk it
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0053.**

* * *

 

**0053**

**0053: KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS KISS (does it count as many votes if I write it many times?)**

**0053: Kiss her on the hand**

**0053: Kiss her hand for a wonderful dance.**

 

Since you’ve spent so much time being a nervous dork this evening, you decide to try and do something cool, by taking her hand and kissing it like a prince in a fairy tale. Sadly, you just end up feeling even more like a dork. Winter laughs though, so you guess it wasn’t too bad.

“Thank you for such a lovely evening Ruby. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 ***Winter enjoyed your date. +750 Winter points!** *

You make your way up to the balcony where you said you would meet Weiss to watch the fireworks. When you get there the balcony seems to be empty, but after a moment you notice Blake’s amber eyes peeking out from the shadows.

“Weiss will be along in a minute,” she tells you, “she’s just getting ready. Yang and I will keep an eye out for anyone coming up to this floor. They should all stay outside for the display, but its better to be safe than sorry.”

Blake darts off, leaving you waiting alone on the balcony. You take a seat in one of the two chairs that had been set up, and watch the people below go through the final preparations for the display. Before long, you hear movement behind you. You turn around, and gasp at what you see.

Weiss has made a body for herself, one of living ice. Her hair and her dress are made from ice that is frost-white, and yet it still moves exactly like hair and fabric should. The rest of her body is made from clear ice, save for her eyes which are a beautiful shade of blue. Her features are crafted in astonishing detail, as lifelike as any other person, and absolutely gorgeous besides. You are utterly awestruck…

“I did my best.” She says in an uncertain tone. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it look more… alive.”

You shake your head furiously. ”No Weiss, you look amazing! Wow that’s really cool… Uh, no pun intended.”

The tension flows out of Weiss, and she laughs softly. “You dork. I hope you’re not starting to pick up habits from Yang.”

She sits down beside you, and you take her hand. It feels exactly like the hand of a human, save for the fact that it is every bit as cold as ice should be. Despite the cold, you don’t feel any discomfort or need to let go. It’s a pleasant, harmless, freezing cold, as weird as that sounds.

The display begins a few moments later, and it is absolutely amazing. A symphony of sparks of every colour of the rainbow cascade down. You heard that the fireworks are made in Beacon by a club for the third years, one that you can’t wait to join. As you watch, you wonder how Yang would experience the display, as a fire demon.

You lean your head on Weiss’ shoulder, but pull back as you feel her tense up.

”What’s wrong?” You ask her. “Do you not want me to do that?”

“No… its just…” She holds her palms out in front of her, and stares at them sadly. “I was hoping that this evening would help me feel more human, but its done the opposite. This isn’t a real body, just a lump of ice. I can’t feel you holding my hand… Or your head on my shoulder. There’s nothing left of what I once was…

Unable to put your current emotions into words, you pull Weiss into a tight hug. Even if she doesn’t feel you, you hope that the act properly conveys your feelings to her, along with the fact that you will accept and care for her no matter what she is.

As you hold her close, you start to feel the faint connection between the small piece of your soul inside of you and hers. It feels as though you can reach out and touch it…

 

**Should you?**

  * Do it. Give her something that feels real.
  * Don’t. You know to little about souls to risk it.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0054.**

**AN: This will not accidentally complete the binding, so don’t worry about that happening.**

* * *

 

**0054**

**0054: Do it. You want this night to be memorable in a good way, not be bogged down with doubts and could-have-beens. Remind Weiss that she still has a soul, even if she doesn’t remember everything she’s been through.**

**0054: Reach out Ruby! Reach for Weiss!**

**0054: Do itttt!**

 

You reach out with your soul to hers, and pull it close. Weiss gasps softly, but doesn’t pull away.

“See Weiss, you can still feel.” You say. “You’re still you, and that won’t ever change.”

“Th… thank you Ruby.” Her voice shakes slightly, like she’s about to cry. “That feels… nice.”

***You’ve comforted Weiss! +1000 Weiss points!***

_“Oh yes. She’s very nice isn’t she Ruby? You’ve got good taste!”_

You abruptly pull away from Weiss upon hearing this strange new voice resonating in your mind.

“What’s wrong Ruby? Did I do something?”  
  
”N-no. Its not you… I heard something… A voice.”

You’re feeling quite frightened now. It was just like that strange experience back when you first found Yang. That time though it was dull enough for you to just dismiss the strange episode as being nothing. This time it was sharp, unmistakable. There is something else inside of you, and touching Weiss’ soul has made it aware.

Weiss open’s her mouth to say something else, but you hold up a hand for her to be quiet while you search inside yourself for the presence. You find nothing, but you are certain it is still there, just keeping quiet for the time being. Your search is halted when you notice something else.

“Hey, where are those explosions coming from?” You ask Weiss.

“Huh? Aren’t they just the fireworks?”  
  
”What fireworks?” The sky is completely clear.

Weiss’ eyes widen in horror. “Oh no…” 

Blake’s shadow and Yang’s flame suddenly dart out onto the balcony.

“We’ve got big trouble!” Cries Yang. “The robots have gone crazy and are attacking everybody! There are some coming up to this floor, so we need to move now!”

You nod, and start to move out. Before you do so however, something catches your eye in the courtyard below. Cinder and Mercury, along with a ginger-haired man walking across the lawn, flanked by a large group of robots.

  
**What should you do? (You can summon Crescent Rose to you in the locker no matter what option you pick.)**

  * Go back to the dorm and change into your combat outfit. Its hard to move in this dress, and you don’t have your cape for Weiss to stay in.
  * Go and try to help everyone out against the Atlesian robots. They might be in trouble.
  * Tail Cinder. She’s clearly controlling the robots somehow. She must be up to something bad.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0055.**   
  
**AN: Oh boy you guys have done it now! Touching a demon’s soul with yours isn’t the best of ideas it turns out. It literally said on the option that you have no info on what it might do, so you can’t blame me for the fact that you pressed the metaphorical big red button. Hopefully this decision won’t haunt you throughout the rest of the story…**


	17. 0055 => 0058

**0055**

**0055: Pointedly remember Emerald is friends with Mercury.** ****

…You don’t want to think about that right now.

**0055: Go back to the dorm and change. You need somewhere to hide Weiss, it you’re just asking for trouble! Call Crescent Rose now, though, you can’t stay unarmed in the middle of this.** ****

**0055: Go to your room and change into your combat outfit. Also summon Crescent Rose to you via combat locker. You need to have all of your demon friends with you.** ****

You summon Crescent Rose to you on the balcony. The impact of the locker leaves a large crack on the floor, but who cares when its an emergency like this.

As you start dashing through the building, you run straight into a squad of AK-200s. They immediately

”ATTENTION STUDENT! LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON ELSE WE WILL BE FORCED TO USE-“

You bisect it before it gets the chance to finish its declaration, and immediately move on to deal with the next. The robots immediately open fire, but while their rifles are formidable at range, up close they are unwieldy, and so it is easy for you to duck out of the way of their shots and strike back.

As you tug your scythe out of the chest of the final robot, you hear a whirr, and turn to discover a second group had rounded the corner behind you. Red dots dance across your body as they train their sights on you, but before they can fire a storm of icy shards from Weiss shreds them to pieces.

“I’ve got your back Ruby.” She says, giving you a slightly awkward thumbs up.

You manage to get back to your dorm with no further incidents. Once there, you quickly change back into your regular combat outfit. Weiss leaves her ice body in the shower, which you switch on in order to make sure it melts properly, and returns to your cape. It seems a shame to destroy it, but you suppose she could always make another for the next date if/when it happens.

As you exit back into the hall, you hear the PA system crackle into life. Its Professor Port.

“Attention all students. There is currently a massive, organised, demonic attack occurring in Vale. The state of emergency is such that anyone who is capable of combat, must fight. An evacuation is taking place, but should we lose this battle the loss of life will be catastrophic. I am so, so sorry that you children have to experience such an event.” The transmission cuts off.

  
**What now?**

  * Go and help save lives down in Vale.
  * Search Beacon for your team.
  * Find Cinder.
  * Other (please specify)



_…Or you could just let me out completely. I’ll clean things up in a flash!_

**The number is 0056**

**AN: Don’t listen to it. If you let it take control of Ruby, it will cause an immediate bad end.**

* * *

 

**0056**

**0056 Strength in numbers. Find your team. At the very least to make sure they’re all ok.** ****

**0056: Find your team. You’re gonna want backup regardless of what you do, and there’s no guarantee that your secret will be kept even without your team to see it.**

**0056: Go find your team! Its too dangerous to go alone!** ****

 

The other hunters can handle things down in the city, right now you need to go find your friends. You start dashing towards the fireworks display area, where they supposedly were last.

As you move through the school you come across several skirmishes between Beacon students and the Atlesian robots. You send a few shots in the direction of any robots that appear to be getting the advantage as you run past.

As you arrive at the display area, you see one of the massive Atlesian Paladin mechs ahead of you. You pull out Crescent Rose, and prepare for a fight. However, before you can attack, the mech is enveloped in a black glow, and is promptly twisted apart into scrap metal.

As the dust thrown up by its destruction clears, you see Pyrrha Nora and Ren standing amongst the wreckage of dozens of robots. Their prom outfits are ruined, and they look exhausted, but are otherwise unhurt.

“Ruby! You’re okay!” Pyrrha cries happily as they run over to you. “Where were you all this time?”

“I kinda was wrapped up in my date when this all started.” You say sheepishly. “Sorry guys. Are you all ok?”  
  
”We’re fine.” Says Ren. “We tried to clear out as many robots as we could, but its looking like we’ve barely put a dent into the overall problem. Any ideas of what we should do next team leader?”

You nod. “Alright team! Here is what we’re going to do next…”

Before you can tell your team what your plan of action will be, you are suddenly plunged into darkness. Gigantic black clouds, crackling with lightning, begin to form in the previously clear sky above…

“Ruby. There’s a demon below us, and it’s a really strong.” Blake says urgently.

“Oh my god…” Says Pyrrha, in a tone that is more than a little panicked. “The lights… And then the storm coming out of nowhere… Did someone… Did someone just release The Spark?”  
  
 **What do you do?  
  
**

  * A titan just got released from its seal, this battle is already lost. You need to cut your losses, run to fight another day.
  * We can’t abandon the city now! Think of all the people whose lives are at risk! There might still be time if we go and try to stop this.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0057.**

* * *

 

**0057**

**0057: You have to stay to fight. All that is known about titans, is that they leave more devastation in their wake the longer they’re left unchecked. If we run now, The Spark will simply get us later, when we’re less organized, and have fewer allies.**

**0057: You need to go over and protect as many civilians as possible, if you’re lucky the Titan isn’t out yet and you can seal it before it’s too late.**

**0057: Don’t abandon the city!**

 

“We have to go and stop it.” You say with grim determination. “This is what we became hunters to do after all.”

“Yeah! We’re with you Ruby!” Nora declares. Despite her words, she can’t conceal the fear in her eyes.

You start heading in the demon’s direction. At first you rely on Blake Weiss and Yang to guide you, but soon you don’t need their help as you notice that the clouds are all beginning to converge over one spot over by the lake.

You arrive there, and discover a large hole that has been excavated in the middle of the lawn. As you watch, Mercury clambers out of it, followed by Cinder and a man in a bowler hat.

Mercury glowers as he sees you. “What the hell are you lot doing here.” He looks like he is about to attack you, but stops as he hears a voice, crackling like electricity, coming from the hole.

“Ugh. Is this seriously the best body you could find for me?”  
  
A final figure exits the hole. Its technically an unmutated human, but its flesh is dripping and melting even as you watch. You can’t even tell what it looked like before it was possessed.

“My apologies.” Says Cinder. “This is only a temporary measure until we get you to your proper body.”  
  
”Yeah well you could have at least found one that didn’t start falling apart this quickly. If I hadn’t just spent several centuries getting drained, this one would have already evaporated…” It pauses for a moment as it notices you. “Hey… Those guys look like they’d work a lot better. I’m going to take one of their bodies instead.”

”There’s no point in wasting time with them.” Cinder tells it. “The ships are right over there. If you use one of them as a vessel you will be unstoppable…”

It rounds on her furiously. “Why the fuck would I want to be a boat when there are four good vessels right over there. I don’t take orders for you, so just go and wait for me in the damn ship.”

Cinder’s eyes narrow, and for a moment it looks like she is going to argue. Eventually she nods, and turns to leave along with her other two companions.

The Spark turns to face you and your teammates. “Now then! Which one of you will it be?” He first stares directly at you. “You’d be a pretty good vessel… Oh wait… You’re already… No, you won’t work.”

Its gaze passes over Ren (“Good,” it murmurs.), then Pyrrha (“Even better!”), before alighting on Nora.

“Her. She’s perfect for me. I won’t need to worry about you breaking down from my power.” It holds its hands out in front of it, lightening dancing across its palms. “I don’t suppose you’ll all just let me have her without a fight?”

Yeah as if that’s going to happen.

 

**Choose your battle strategy**

**OR  
**

**Complete the binding with Weiss Blake and Yang**

**The number is 0058**

**AN: The Spark is weakened from its centuries of imprisonment. If you complete the binding you’ll beat it, but, as you are no doubt aware by now, you’ll become a hunted outcast. You have the information required to beat it normally. Have you been paying proper attention?**

* * *

 

**0058**

**0058: Knock it into the lake! Weiss might be helpful if she finds a good opportunity to freeze the ground and make him slip.**

**0058: We need to get him into the lake, before any of us are possessed preferably. Maybe bait him into using a powerful attack, and have Ren reflect it?**

**0058: Attempt to push The Spark off the cliff before it can do anything. If it tries to make a move, protect your teammates so that it can’t switch to their bodies.**

You quickly and quietly give your team a rundown of your plan to push the demon into the lake. Simultaneously you mentally inform Weiss of her part in it, and she slips out of your cape to take position. Hopefully your teammates don’t notice her involvement, but its worth the risk.

The Spark scoffs. “I don’t know what you lot are planning, but I’m not just going to let you do it!” With that, it sends two enormous bolts of lightening flying directly towards you.

For a moment you fear that the battle is about to end before it has even begun, but at the last instant the bolts curve away from you. Pyrrha, using her magnetism, levitated Miló and Akoúo̱ and used them to direct the electricity away from your bodies and into the ground.

“Go!” She cries. “I’ll cover you.”

You, Ren, and Nora, all charge forward. Pyrrha manages to keep the bolts from hitting you long enough for you to close the distance, but one of them slips through and strikes her. You hear her cry out, and a thump as she hits the floor, but you don’t have time to stop.

You all fall upon the demon with a flurry of synchronised strikes and slashes. The fury of your attack is blunted slightly by the knowledge that its over for you if you take a single blow, but nevertheless your assault slowly forces it back towards the cliff, step by step.

It quickly catches on to your strategy. “Oh HELL no! I am not getting done in by that trick a second time!”

Its fist begins to glow as it gathers energy for a massive attack. You and Nora jump out of the way, while Ren leaps forward and catches the blow on his energy shield, attempting to send it right back at the demon. It works, and the demon is sent flying backwards by the shields counterattack, but Ren wasn’t able to deflect the entire blow, and is sent down for the count.

(At least you hope he’s just down for the count, you can’t tell for sure.)

Weiss springs into action, creating a long path of ice towards the cliff. As The Spark lands, it begins slipping along the path towards the edge in an almost comical fashion.

“No!” It screams. “No no no no no no no no NO!” At the last ‘no’ it releases an enormous burst of electricity, the heat of which melts the ice, stopping it just moments before it falls off the cliff.

You charge towards it, and swing Crescent Rose in order to give it the final push off the edge…

…And The Spark catches it mid-swing by the handle, stopping you dead.

“Game over you little shit.” It mutters.

With that, it slams its palm into your stomach. You feel agonizing pain as electricity lances through your body. The last thing you hear before you black out is Nora screaming in rage…

* * *

You come to. Slowly, painfully, you force yourself to look up. Nora is kneeling on the ground, battered, bloody, and defeated. The Spark stands over her. Its body has melted even further, to the point where you can see bone peeking through in several places. Its stomach has also been caved in, probably by a blow from Magnhild.

“Not bad kiddo.” The Spark says. “Even if your little trinket did most of the work keeping you alive, you put up a better fight than most of the hunters I ever killed.” It squats down, so its eye level with her. “But now its over, and you are mine.”

It hasn’t noticed that you’re awake yet, and is really close to the edge of the cliff. Crescent Rose lies in the grass several metres away.

 

**What do you do?**   
  


  * Go for Crescent Rose and try knock it off by shooting it.
  * Tackle it over the cliff. Don’t give it time to take over Nora.
  * Other



**The number is 0059.**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the lack of updates. I've been forgetting to update here recently. We're currently up to 0077 on the blog, so go read the story there if you're looking for more.


	18. 0059 => End of Part 2

**0059**

**0059: Tackle it over the cliff. If you go for Crescent Rose Spark will take Nora then you’d have to shoot her :(**

**0059: Tackle it. We can’t let it get Nora.**

**0059: It’s not likely that shooting it will have enough strength to blast it over the cliff. Tackle it off the edge!**

 

The Spark places its hands on Nora’s head, and begins the transfer. You don’t have time to get Crescent Rose, and you’re sure as hell not going to let it get her. This ends now.

“I’m sorry. Blake. Weiss. Yang. This is the end.”

You force your aching body to its feet, even as they scream at you in your head to stop, to not do anything stupid. You charge forward, and slam yourself into The Spark before it has a chance to realise what’s going on. You both go sailing off the edge of the cliff.

You think that it said something to you. By the look on its face it was some sort of expletive, or a wordless scream of defeat. You can’t really tell, as the electricity flowing through your body has already made your mind go blank from pain.

Thankfully the agony only lasts a few seconds before your entire body turns numb and unfeeling. You still manage to hold on to it though, dragging you both down…

Down…

Down…

Down…

Down…?

Wow you’ve been falling for a weirdly long time. It almost feels as if everything around you is being slowed down…

 _“Oh boy you’ve done it now.”_  
  
Its that voice again.

_“Don’t mind me, I’ve just slowed down your perception of time a bit so I’ve a chance to talk to you. Nora’s fine by the way. It did manage to get a tiny little bit of itself into her, which is probably taking root in her soul as we speak, but it wasn’t a big enough piece to carry over its consciousness. Her mind still entirely belongs to her.”_

_“Also: I’m pleased to say you don’t have to worry about dying, as you’re probably going to survive all of this. It won’t be pretty though, since all this electricity being pumped through you is going to mess you up pretty badly. At the very least you’ll suffer massive disfigurement, heavy damage to your nervous system, loss of fine motor skills, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. I doubt you’ll have any sort of career as a huntress after this, but at least you saved the city right?”_

Despite the loss of any sensation in your body, you feel it place a hand on your shoulder and draw close to your ear.

 _“…Although, I could prevent all of that. I won’t even ask you for anything in exchange. All I need is your consent. Will you let me?”_  
  
That’s not even a real choice at all, but its still one that you have to make.

**Do you agree?**

  * Yes
  * No



**The number is 0060.**

**AN: Its not lying to you. Not this time at least.**

* * *

 

**0060**

**0060: Well… Either it’s game over for you and your dreams, or you can choose to trust that voice. Yes it is, then. Just hoping you won’t regret it.**

**0060: I suppose we have to. We’ll cross any other bridges when we get to them.**

**0060: Take the deal… one favour to a demon can’t be THAT bad?**

You have a bad feeling about this. You don’t have much choice in the matter though, so you agree.

_“Perfect! I will need some small payment though. I did say I wouldn’t take it from you though, so instead I’ll be taking it from THEM!”_

With that, billions of ghostly tendrils shoot from your soul, latch on to the soul of The Spark, and slowly begin to reel it in towards you. It feels like you’re being forced to hold on to the sun.

The sensation similar to what you did with Weiss earlier, only this time, rather than warm and comforting, this feels utterly wrong and repulsive on the most fundamental level.

The Spark lets out an eldritch scream, and fires a blistering counterattack down the link between you that shakes you to your very core. The voice simply laughs.

_“Oh please. Even if you were at full strength, and weren’t stuck in a decomposing body, you would still be doomed at this point.”_

The Spark’s rage turns into fear, and then into desperation as it realise how ineffective its attacks are. It franticly tries to pull away, to escape from the voice’s grasp, but just gets pulled closer and closer, until eventually, with a final anguished scream, it gets pulled inside of you.

Then you finally hit the water, and everything goes black.

**End of Part 2**

 

 


	19. End of part 2 roundup

**This chapter will detail a few of the things that could have happened during this part (not everything though, just a few interesting little bits).  
**

**For a start you TECHNICALLY could have said no to the demon’s deal at the end there, but Ruby would have been left in bad shape, so continuing things would have been really difficult.**

**The best possible ending you could have attained in this part involved you following Cinder at the earliest opportunity, and then finding and activating a failsafe inside The Spark’s seal. This would have flooded its chamber, making it impossible for Cinder to release it in the first place. The ending would arguably have been made better still if you hadn’t awoken the demon inside of Ruby, but you would have left Weiss still feeling terrible about herself so I think most of you will remain happy with that decision.**

**The worst possible ending (ignoring the bad endings), would have occurred if you guys had went for Crescent Rose instead of the tackle, as this would have given The Spark time to possess Nora. Nora would have fought it long enough to throw herself off the cliff, but she would have been picked up by Cinder’s crew, and you would have had to fight her again later when she was fully possessed.**

**Two different types of bad endings could have occurred. The first of course would have happened if you had given in to “Overlord Ruby” (as you guys have temporarily dubbed her). The second would have occurred if you had gone down to fight the demons in the city instead of remaining in Beacon to either find your teammates or tail Cinder. The Spark would have possessed one of the Atlesian battleships, and vaporised you, along with the entire city. I would have let you guys have a do-over if you had gotten that bad end, as you had no real warning that that would happen.**

**There are probably a few other interesting events that I had planned that could have happened that I didn’t talk about here, but I can’t remember them right now. The first part (0061) of part 3 will go up tomorrow**

**In the meantime, why don’t you guys tell me what you think of the story so far? Was there anything you particularly liked? Anything you didn’t? Anything you want to see more/less of? Just want to say nice things that will make me feel nice and give me motivation? Send it all in.**


	20. 0061 => 0063 + fanart

**0061**

You wake up to the feeling of warm earth beneath your back. You open your eyes, and see an enormous sun blazing above you. You’re not sure if its really close, or just really big. In either case it should have burnt you to death by now, or at least blinded you with the way you’re staring at it. Neither of those things are actually happening, so you put it out of your mind

You sit up, and look around at your surroundings. You’re sitting on a path which runs through a vast garden that stretches out as far as the eye can see. You note that the garden consists of nothing but rose bushes. You like roses, but you kind of wish that whoever made this garden had added a bit more variety.

The moment you think that, a gust of wind blows through the garden, and many of the roses are transformed into other plants. Its still mostly roses, but there’s more variety, and even a few strawberry bushes! You pick a few to munch on as you begin walking along the path.

There are statues placed at regular intervals on either side of the path. You quickly realise that every one of them is of someone you either know, or once knew. Your old neighbour, teachers and classmates from signal, and even the old man that runs the bakery back on Patch.

The statues of people you like, such as your dad and uncle Qrow, seemed to be better kept, whereas the statues of people you don’t like, such as CRDL, are lumpy, overgrown, and broken.

You stop for a moment in front of Emeralds statue, which has a large crack running through it. As you remember what she did, and what she was a part of, more cracks form on the statue. You move on.

You pass by Winter’s statue (carefully crafted out of pure white marble), and those of your teammates (Brass for Pyrrha, Jade for Ren, Pink Quartz for Nora), before reaching the ones belonging to Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Unlike the other statues, which were made out of regular stone or metal, the ones belonging to Weiss Blake and Yang seem to be constructed out of their respective element. Weiss’ out of ice, Yang’s out of solidified fire, and Blake’s out of shadow. You can’t really make out any features on Blake’s statue, which is possibly due to you not actually knowing what she looks like, which makes you feel kind of sad.

As you press onwards, you notice something up ahead, and break out into a sprint. You get closer, and realise that you’re looking at some kind of titanic, eldritch creature. Its so indescribable and weird, that it takes you a long time to realise that a large portion of its body is missing.

You notice a person crouching down next to it. Judging from the wet ripping and chewing sounds that you can hear, the they’re is busy eating the being alive.

The creature sees you, and weakly reaches an appendage out towards you.

”Please, help me. I’ll return to the other world, I’ll never touch another human. Just please, make her stop. I don’t want to be eaten…”

The person stands up and turns around. She looks almost exactly like you, except for a few major differences. For a start, all the black of your hair and outfit has been replaced with white for her. Secondly, her teeth are razor sharp, like a shark. You get the feeling that her eyes are also different, but don’t look at them on reflex, as you instinctively know that something bad would happen to you if you did.

_“Oh! You’re finally here! Come over and eat with me, there’s plenty to go around.”_

**What do you say?  
** **  
The number is 0062.**

 

* * *

 

**0062**

**0062: I think I’ll just stand here and watch you eat… I’ve gorged myself on strawberries already**

**0062: Ask that strange girl what she’s doing.**

**0062: Politely decline the offer, you’re not feeling all that hungry. Ask her about this place, and why she looks like you.** ****

**0062: “Who are you? And what are you doing?” Maybe you can point out you’ve been taught it’s rude to eat and talk at the same time to get her to stop for a bit.**

“Uh… I’ll pass. I ate a bunch of strawberries on the way here.”

_”Eh, suit yourse… Wait, there are STRAWBERRIES?! Where are they?”_

”There are a bunch of them back down the path.” _  
_

_“Awesome! I’ll have some later for dessert.”_

Upon saying that, she rips off a head-sized chunk of flesh from the creature. Her mouth opens unnaturally wide, allowing her to swallow it whole.

“You know its kind of rude to eat while you’re talking to someone,” you say, feeling more than a little bit grossed out by what you just witnessed.

_“Oh, sorry. I’ll finish my meal later then.”_

“What is that thing anyway?”

_“Isn’t it obvious? It’s The Spark. The reason why it looks all gross and huge is because it didn’t really take the time to choose a proper form for itself, so it just ended up looking like this. At least its not as bad as The Flesh, because that thing is freaking revolting.”_

“Why are you eating it?”  
  
_”Why? Do you feel sorry for it?”_ She gives you a sharp-toothed grin. _“Its done the same thing to tons of other souls, so it deserves this. Anyway, we’ve technically already eaten it. What you’re seeing here is more like… digestion.”_

“W-what do you mean we’ve? Who are you? What are you? And what the heck even is this place?”

 _Her grin widens. “Can’t you tell by looking at me? I’m Ruby Rose, the same as you are. I was born with you. I was named with you. I was raised with you. The only thing that makes you ‘more’ Ruby Rose than me is the fact that you’re the one in control.”_ She throws her arms wide. _“As for what this place is: its our soul. Everything that we are is stored in this place. We can do pretty much anything we want here. Just let me warn you: don’t follow this path to its end. You and I aren’t the only Rubys in here, and the one you’ll find at the end is awfully territorial. Most of the time you won’t have to worry about her though, as she’s never really left that place.”_

She looks upwards suddenly, and stares at the sun for a fairly long time with a faraway look on her face. Eventually she looks back at you. _  
_

_”Hmph. It looks like you’ll be waking up soon. We’ve got time for a few more questions though, so ask me anything you want.”_

**What do you ask?  
  
The number is 0063**

* * *

 

**0063**

**0063: Is she the voice Ruby’s been hearing?**

_“Yup! Wasn’t it obvious by now?”_

**0063: Give or take how much other “Rubys” are there? And will they be an issue in the future?**

_“Dozens! Maybe even hundreds! None of them are like you or me though. They’re all just different parts of our personality. There’s one that’s always happy, one that’s always miserable, one that’s obsessed with cookies, one that’s wayyyyy too interested in Crescent Rose, and many others besides.”_  
  
Her expression grows serious. _“The one Ruby that I told you about is the one that represents the huntress part of us. She is both what we are capable of now, and what we have the potential to be in the future. She can’t be reasoned with, as she can only do two things: hunt, and take orders. Someone ordered her to hunt anyone who tries to get to the core of our soul. I don’t know who or what is responsible, but if you were to get past the huntress and into the core, I’m sure you would probably find out.”_

She sighs. _“Its such a shame. Whoever sits in the core of the soul can control the whole thing. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t want to do that.”_

 **0063 Can I or any of the other Rubys die in here?** ****

_“No. I can say that from experience, after getting ripped apart by the huntress so many times. I’m REALLY strong, but she is on a whole other level.”_

**0063: Are you and this other, Other Ruby some kind of personification/metaphor for the inner darkness that lies in everyone and I have to overcome you in an epic battle? Or are you just a result of that ritual, and are a demon that I have to overcome in an equally as epic battle? Oh and can you finish off Sparky over there, evil or not, kiiiiinda don’t like to see people suffer.**

She puts on an expression of clearly-fake sadness. _“Oh? You want to get rid of me? To defeat me? I’m hurt by your words.”_ She breaks out into her typical grin. _“You’re welcome to try if you can, but when you do we’ll be playing for keeps.”_  
  
”To answer your other questions: I’m not anything as cliché as ‘inner darkness’, but I am a demon. I wasn’t made a part of you by the ritual though, I’ve been with you since birth.”  
  
”Also even if I wanted to put this sorry pile of goo out of its misery, I can’t until I eat it completely. Honestly, what its going through right now is much less cruel than the complete oblivion that awaits it once I’m done.”  
  
The Spark whimpers in fear.

**0063: “You’re clearly a demon, though. If we’re both me, am I… not completely human?”**

_“You’re the human part of us, I’m the demon part. You’re the bit on the surface of our soul, which is why we haven’t yet been lynched for being what we are.”_

**0063: Ask about what happens now that you have “eaten” The Spark. Do you get cool abilities?**

_“Its adding to the power of our soul considerably, so yes, yes it will. If you ever were to tap into that power though, you would become one hundred percent demon the same as me, and we’d end up with all the humans trying to kill us, same as with the binding. If you want to do that, then I suggest doing the binding at he same time, since we may as well commit to it all the way. Of course, you might not want to erase the everything human about you, but quite frankly I don’t see the point of staying attached to something as weak as your humanity.”_  
  
_”One more thing: we won’t get lightening powers, because our soul isn’t the same type as The Spark’s. Its like how you don’t gain the ability to photosynthesise if you eat a lot of plants.”_

**0063: That Ruby in front of you looks pretty… unnatural. “Do all humans have someone like you around?”**

_“Nope. Some of them have something similar, but you and I are unique!”_

 

All of a sudden you start to feel like you’re dissolving.

_“Looks like our time together is up. Do me a favour and don’t tell any of the others about me? They won’t understand, so its better for us both if they don’t know.”_

* * *

And with that, you wake up.

You’re in one of the beds in the medical ward in Beacon. Nora is in the bed next to you. From the sound of her snoring, she’s doing alright. Ren is sitting next to her bed, reading a newspaper. He hasn’t noticed that you’re awake yet. Pyrrha is nowhere to be seen.

You can sense Weiss, Yang, and Blake are currently in the room with you as well.

 **Who do you talk to first?**  


  * Weiss, Blake, and Yang.
  * Ren (and Nora if she wakes up)
  * Neither. You still feel woozy, just go back to sleep.



**The number is 0064.**

 

** **

 Art by <http://generalblitz.tumblr.com/>

 Art by <http://rwbyshenanigans.tumblr.com/>


	21. 0064 => 0070

**0064**

**0064: Check in with Weiss, Blake, and Yang first.** ****

**0064: Talk to Weiss, Blake, and Yang.** ****

**0064: Talk to your three secret pals first, while Ren thinks you’re still out of it. You’re probably going to get assaulted by questions soonish, better check up on them now.**

You decide to talk to the rest of team RWBY first before pestering Ren.

“Hey guys!” You think to them. “Are you all doing alright?”  
  
Yang responds first. “You’re awake! We were starting to get a bit…”

“WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING YOU FOOL!!!” Weiss screeches in a voice that would be deafening if it weren’t for the fact that it was being sent directly into your head. “DID YOU THINK YOU WERE BEING SMART? HEROIC? ALL YOU WERE DOING WAS GETTING YOURSELF KILLED

Yang tries to intervene. “Weiss, maybe calm it down a bit. Ruby’s still recovering after all…”  
  
”No Yang, Weiss is right,” you say. “If I had died you would have all gotten sent back to the demon world. I wasn’t just risking my own life. What I did was selfish…”

You feel a pulse of sadness from Weiss “No! That’s not what I meant at all. I just… didn’t want to lose you…”

That doesn’t make you feel any better.

“It would have been nice if you took a moment to tell us what you were about to do.” Blake adds. “I would have caught you before you fell if it weren’t for how tightly you were holding on to The Spark.”

“Uh, whoops.” You say sheepishly. “I’ll try to communicate more in the future.”

“By the way, something really weird happened.” Says Yang. “As you were falling, The Spark just kind of vanished. We haven’t been able to detect a single trace of him since then. Lets hope that its gone for good.”

**It doesn’t sound like they think you had anything to do with it. Should you come clean?**

  * Honesty is the best policy.
  * Do as the other Ruby said, and keep it quiet.



**Also, is there anything else you have to say/ask them before you talk to Ren?  
  
The number is 0065**

* * *

 

**0065**

**0065: Full disclosure, with them at least. They’re bound to you, so it’s only fair to let them know.** ****

**0065: Tell them about your demon half. You need someone to confide in about her, and they are your most trusted friends at this point.**

**0065 Be honest. I don’t think there’s any reason not to. It’s not like you chose to have her inside you, and you didn’t really have a choice in agreeing to it there.**

You decide that better to be honest.

“Guys. I have something to tell you all…”  
  
You give them a full explanation about the other Ruby.

”So wait, let me get this straight.” Says Yang after you finished. “There’s another demon version of you sitting in your soul, it says that its been with you from birth, and it freaking ATE a titan.”

“That’s pretty much it.”  
  
”Wow. Maybe I’m a bit of a hypocrite for saying this, but that’s kind of screwed up.”  
  
”I didn’t notice it at all.” Says Blake. “I’m looking for it now, but I can’t sense any foreign souls inside of yours. Aside from the bits of ours obviously.”

“We’ll keep a closer eye on you in the future.” Says Weiss. “If we notice anything funny going on in your soul, we’ll tell you immediately.”

“Yeah! Don’t worry about her doing any sneaky weirdness while we’re on the job!” Yang declares.

You hope that this doesn’t annoy the other Ruby too much.

Having nothing else left to say to them for now, you decide to let Ren know that you’re conscious.  
  
”Hey Ren.” You say. Your tongue feels heavy, and its hard to speak. “Howth thingth going?”

He looks up from his paper with a start.  
  
”Ruby! You’re awake! How are you doing?”

“I can’t move, and my whole body feelth numb.”  
  
”That makes sense considering all the stuff they pumped into you to help with the pain.”

“Are you guys all doing all right? Wereth Pyrrha?”  
  
”We’re all doing fine. I got away with just a minor concussion. Pyrrha received some scarring when she was hit, but is fine otherwise. You and Nora were the only ones who were seriously injured, you especially, but the doctors tell me that you’re both going to make a complete recovery. Pyrrha is out getting us lunch. Ever since she woke up Nora’s been craving cheese for some weird reason, so we’re having pizza.”

“Oh great, I’m thtarving!”

Ren chuckles. “Not surprising since you’ve been fed through a tube in your arm for the past week.” His smile fades, and he gets a strange look on his face. “Ruby… If you hadn’t done what you did, Nora wouldn’t be here right now.” He starts to have trouble speaking, having gotten a little choked up. “You saved her. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.”

***+1500 Ren points** *

You give him the best smile you can manage right now. “No problem Ren. We’re teammates after all.”

 

**What do you do now?  
**

  * Call your dad
  * Call Winter
  * Wait for Pyrrha to get back
  * Ask Ren if you can check the newspaper. See how bad the attack was for Vale.
  * There will be time to talk when you’re better. Just rest for now.
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0066.**

**AN: Surprisingly even in terms of whether or not to tell WBY about anti-Ruby. But honesty just barely won out.**

* * *

 

**0066**

**0066: Call Winter. Your date was kinda cut short. And I imagine she’s worried about you.**

You decide to call Winter, since she’s probably worried sick about you. You search around for your scroll, eventually finding it in a drawer of the cabinet next to your bed. It still works, despite the fact that you had it on you during your trip into the lake. You’re going to have to thank dad for investing the extra 200 lien in getting a scroll with waterproofing and increased durability.

You select Winter on your contact list. The scroll rings twice before she picks up.

“This had better be important.” She says curtly.

“Uh sorry. If this is a bad time then I can call back later…”  
  
”Ruby? You’re awake?” Her tone shifts completely. “Oh I’m so sorry. I’ll be over there right away, just let me finish up here.”  
  
”Okay, see you then,” you try to say, but she hung up too quickly. She sounded really stressed. Not surprising, considering how hard she must have to be working after the incident that just occurred.

**0066: Ask if Ren will read to you for a little bit.**

**0066: CHECK NEWSPAPER FOR OTHER TITANS TO MUNCH**

You decide to see what’s going on in the news. You doubt that you’re going to find any information on the other titans in there though. Where the heck did that sudden desire to eat another one of them come from anyway? You hope that the other Ruby isn’t influencing your thoughts.

You ask Ren to read the paper to you.

“There’s nothing much going on in the paper today. If you want though, I can catch you up on everything that happened while you were out.”

You tell him that that sounds good.

“Right. Well I’ll get the depressing stuff out of the way first. The demons that got into the city were all possessed humans, who were trying to create as much chaos as possible in order to give Cinder’s group time to release The Spark. Since they weren’t Grimm, they weren’t out to just kill everybody in sight, but over three thousand people still ended up dying, and way more were injured or… worse. By now, all the demons involved in the attack are either dead, or captured for interrogation.”

“The robots caused less trouble. Apparently the programming that prevented them from attacking civilians conflicted with whatever the hackers used to get them to attack us, causing them to be way less effective in combat than they normally would have been. As a result, no one who was up in Beacon during the attack died. Up in Atlas things are getting really rough, since every single Atlesian politician is trying to pin responsibility on everyone else. You’ll have to ask someone else about the details though.”  
  
”Cinder flew off in one of the battleships. We have no clue where she’s hiding, or how she managed to hack the robots or get so many demons into Vale.”

“Finally, I’m sure you’re wandering what happened to The Spark. For some reason, it just completely disappeared after you both went off the cliff. Either its hiding itself extremely well, or its gone back to the demon world.”  
  
Or it got eaten by an alternate personality of yours, but you keep that to yourself.

“The teachers arrived just after your fall. Nora explained to them everything that happened, and then Miss Goodwitch dove right off the cliff in order to fish you out of the lake.”  
  
Wow. You’ll have to thank Miss Goodwitch when you next see her.

“The teachers all agreed to keep our involvement with the titan a secret for our sake, but the story got out. On the one hand, we’re heroes, but on the other, I haven’t been able to set foot out of Beacon in the past week because of the media trying to stalk us.

“Wow… That’s…” You’re not sure how to feel about that.

**What now?**

  * Sit and wait for Pyrrha and Winter to arrive (Also include anything you want Ruby to say to them if you have anything. This bit is not compulsory though.)
  * Call your father (same as above)
  * See if Uncle Qrow will pick up his scroll for a change (same as above)
  * Call that reporter you met once, and see if you can get what the media is saying about you under control
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0067.**

**AN: The news only barely won out over calling Winter. I decided to compromise slightly.**

* * *

 

**0067**

**0067: Call your dad! he must be worried sick right now**

**0067: Call your father. He’s probably tearing his hair out in worry.** ****

**0067: Call your father. He’s also probably worried sick about you.**

  
You select dad on your scroll contact list. It only rings once before he picks up.

“Ruby, is that you? Are you ok?”  
  
”Yeah dad, its me. I’m fine.” You notice that you’re having a slightly easier time talking now.

“Oh thank god. You had me so worried…” He sighs. “You’re just like your mother, constantly risking your life for others. I know that telling you to stop won’t change anything, but… Please don’t make me bury you.”  
  
You feel a stab of guilt. “I’m sorry dad. I don’t want to die either, but I didn’t have a choice.”  
  
”Yeah, I know. I probably would have done the same in your position. In any case, I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up. Things have been really hectic. Every single hunter is working overtime in order to help get Vale back into shape. Then there’s also the fact that you’ve become famous pretty much overnight. I’ve had to turn down two merchandising deals in the past day alone.”  
  
”Wow, is it really that bad?”  
  
”You beat a Titan. Even if it was weakened, even if it was mostly dumb luck that did it, what you did is still the kind of thing they write legends about. Its going to be hard to make this all go away. Sorry Rubes. Anyway, I’m on the clock right now so I’ve got to go. I’ll come visit you later alright?”  
  
”Ok. Bye dad.”

You hang up just seconds before Pyrrha walks in the room, holding three pizza boxes.

“I’ve got the pizza.” She happily declares, before gasping when she sees that you’re awake. “Ruby, you’re awake!”

Suddenly, Nora shoots up, awake at last. “I smell pizza! Is it here?” Then she spots you. For a second she just stares at you, and then abruptly bursts into tears.

“Nora what’s wrong?” You ask her.

She chokes out a sentence between sobs. “Ruby… I was… so worried… you… were… dead!”

Ren pats her on the back. “There there, just let it all out.” He turns to you. “Don’t worry, she’s just happy that you’re ok.”

“We were all really worried about you.” Says Pyrrha. “I’m thankful that you’re ok.”

***Pyrrha and Nora appreciate what you did. +750 Pyrrha points. +1000 Nora points** *

After a while, Nora settles down again, and you all tuck in to the pizza that Pyrrha brought. Its not long before Winter also enters the room.

“Ruby are you okay? How are you feeling?”  
  
”I’m fine Winter. I don’t think I’ll need much more time in here before I’ll be able to leave.

“Oh, that’s a relief. Well then…” She steps forward, and proceeds to slap you on the head. “What the hell were you thinking you fool.” She hisses furiously. ”Did you think you were being smart? Heroic? All you were doing was getting yourself killed!”

You’re getting a strong sense of déjà vu from this. You guess that she and Weiss truly are sisters.

“Sorry Winter. Its not like I had much of a choice though…”  
  
”I understand that they were extreme circumstances, but to do something as reckless as throw yourself off a cliff… I was so worried about you.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll never risk my life like that again”

She sighs. “I know that’s a lie. We’re both huntresses. Risking our lives is in the job description.”  Her lips quirk upwards into a slight smile “Even so, I forgive you.”  
  
You nod, sombrely. ”Oh, by the way Winter…”

**What do you say? (pick one)**

  * ”Our first date was kind of ruined. Can I make up for it with another one?”
  * “Is there anything you can do to deal with all this media attention?”
  * ”My friend, the one I watched the fireworks with, would like to meet you. Would you be ok with it if I introduced you two once I’m a bit better?”
  * Other (please specify what you’d like her to say)



**The number is 0068.**

**AN: Poor Winter. She’s lost pretty much every single person she cared about, and she almost lost Ruby too. It was pretty rough on her.**

* * *

 

**0068**

**0068: ”Our first date was kind of ruined. Can I make up for it with another one?”**

**0068 Considering the kind of relationship we have with Winter I think we should tell her soon, not much destroys a relationship faster than secrets, but not before talking it through with Weiss. Ask her on a date. Maybe we can tell her then.**

“…everything that happened kind of ruined our first date, so can I have another to make up for it?”

Winter smiles. “Certainly. It will be a while before I can find time in my schedule, but I’ll let you know when I can make time.”

“Great!” You say to her with a smile. As you do so, you also initiate a silent conversation with Weiss. “Hey Weiss, I think we should use the next date as an opportunity to tell her about you.”  
  
”I don’t know…” She responds apprehensively. “Are you sure she won’t react badly?”

“Nope. But I don’t think keeping her a secret from you for too long will be a good idea. I’ll only tell her if you’re ok with it though.”  
  
”…I’ll think about it.”  
  
All of a sudden you start to feel quite woozy. Ren, Pyrrha, and Winter, all leave the ward in order to let you and Nora rest and recover.

* * *

Nora is discharged a day later, and you get discharged two days after that. You’re forced to train twice as hard in order to regain your lost muscle mass, but before long you’re back into the swing of things.

And so, for a time, your normal days resume.

**Choose an event. (3 time slots until minor plot event. 6 Before major plot event.)**

  * Rally (Velvet)
  * Sleepwalking (Nora)
  * Incognito (Pyrrha)
  * Recollection (Blake)
  * Home (Yang)
  * Friends (Penny)
  * Outfit (Coco)
  * Other (something else you think Ruby should do in Vale)



**The number is 0069**

**AN: *Insert immature 69 joke here***

* * *

 

**0069**

**0069: Recollection. Blake needs some development. Poor girl remembers nothing but her name :/**

**0069: Recollection. it’s about time we learn more about Blake** ****

**0069 Recollection. We still know so little about Blake compared to Weiss and Yang.**

 

While out on your morning jog, you discover that someone had sprayed a White Fang symbol on one of the fountains on Beacon’s grounds.

Weiss scoffs. “Typical White Fang. Why can’t they do something productive with their existence rather than defacing other people’s property.”

“I must admit, doing something like this is completely unnecessary given that Beacon is already a vocal supporter of faunus rights. Though, sometimes vandalism was the only way we could get the message across to discriminatory property owners.”

“You say that like you were one of them.”  
  
”…That’s because I was.”

“You were a terrorist!?” Exclaims Weiss in horror.

”We were not terrorists! The only illegal actions performed were by the police, and your fathers security teams, in the violent breaking up of our protests! Well… things were escalating a bit up to my death, but we never stooped to the level of our oppressors!”   
  
”Do you remember how you ended up joining them?” You ask out of curiosity.

“I was a faunus. Joining up with one group or another was pretty much a requirement for survival.” She sighs. “I don’t remember my parents. I don’t think I ever knew them, even when I did have all my memories. I was raised in the Fang, they were my family. Our leader was…” She lets out a pained groan. “…I still can’t remember anything about them. They were a good person though, I know that much, and believed in a future where human and faunus could live together as equals.”  
  
”And then he died,” added Weiss, “and the White Fang were taken over by a new leader.”  
  
”Yes. His name was Adam, and he was…” Blake hesitated for a long time. “…A good friend of mine. His methods were more militant, but they started to work. By performing the very actions that had been inflicted upon us for so long, we finally seemed to be speaking in a language that our oppressors could understand. Until…”  
  
”Until what?” You urge her on, riveted by her story.

“…Until I was killed. Mercenaries, working for the Schnee company, attacked us while we were camping as part of a sit-in protest. I was kidnapped, along with a lot of the other members of the Fang. They took us to… to…” She groans again. “I can’t remember what happened next. But the next thing that I do remember is waking up in the other world, so they must have done it. My death was caused by the Schnee company!”  
  
”Do you have any proof of that?” Asks Weiss.

“Are you calling me a liar?” Blake snaps back.  
  
”No. Winter said that my father went off the rails after my death, so this fits in with her story. But you don’t actually remember being killed, or anything that conclusively confirms that they were working for my father. Until we find something concrete, we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions. However, if it turns out that your story is true, I will support you fully in bringing my father to justice.”  
  
”That’s… fair.” Blake relents. “Thank you Weiss.”

”Of course. We’re… friends after all, aren’t we? I’m not just going to dismiss your word. And… I’m sorry about the terrorist comment. I’ve never really thought about it from their point of view.”

  
***Blake shared some of her past with you. +100 Blake points***

**Choose an event. (2 time slots until minor plot event. 5 Before major plot event.)**

  * Rally (Velvet)
  * Sleepwalking (Nora)
  * Incognito (Pyrrha)
  * Home (Yang)
  * Friends (Penny)
  * Outfit (Coco)
  * The titans (Lore) *NEW*
  * Other (something else you think Ruby should do in Vale)



**The number is 0070**

* * *

 

**0070**

**0070: the Titans. Time to learn a bit more about your next snack!**

**0070: Titan lore might help you out next time as well.**

**0070: Let’s hear about dem titans**

Once again, its time for history class with Doctor Oobleck.

“Good afternoon students! Last lesson we concluded our time examining the war against The Spark. Today, we will begin our lessons on The Flesh, and The King, the other two titans that we have documentation on. Our war against these two titans is considerably less well documented, on account of the widespread devastation they caused, as well as the fact that they came into this world five and ten thousand years ago respectively.”

“The Flesh came in to our world approximately five thousand years ago. Arguably, it came closer to destroying our society than the other two combined. You see, as its name would suggest, it held power over flesh. It could mould and reshape any creature into any form that pleased it, and it used those powers to create an army of monstrosities. No hunter could even approach it, as they would just become material for its next creation. In the end, some form of magical superweapon, lost to time, was used to annihilate The Flesh’s physical form, allowing it to be sealed away somewhere without further loss.”  
  
”The true horror of The Flesh arguably came afterwards, as although they were liberated from its control, its victims could not be restored to their original forms. Those who had lost their sanity were put out of their misery. Those who kept their minds intact were re-integrated into society, but lived short lives on account of their mutation, and were almost always sterile. The only exception to this was those few who escaped with relatively little alteration. These individuals are known today as faunus.”  
  
”Next, we have The King. Its power was to gain dominion over the minds of others, but not through simple control. It could subtly influence the minds of its victims so that they would believe that they wanted to serve it, that by doing so they would find true joy. When its defeat finally came, through means that have been lost to time, nearly half the worlds population had been taken under its control. These people had been so utterly broken by its control, that even after The King’s defeat they no longer had any will of their own. They could only survive by following the commands of another, which resulted in an age of slavery that only ended on account of The Flesh.”

“That concludes our introduction to this part of the course. Now, please turn your books to page…” He stops as he notices that Pyrrha has raised her hand. “Yes miss Nikos?”  
  
”What about The Star?” She asks. “You haven’t brought it up at all.”

“Ah! My apologies, it completely slipped my mind. You see, although The Star is always named as one of the four titans we know of, we are actually not certain of its existence. All we have to go on is a single legend, which I will give you a quick summary of.”

He takes a sip of his Coffee before continuing. “The legend states, that in the early days of humanity, when we were only beginning to learn the secrets of fire and steel, The Star tore its way into our world. This alone signifies that it was significantly greater than the other three titans, as they all needed to be brought into this world through sacrifice. Humanity was incapable of putting up any real resistance, and so it was able to freely begin reshaping the world as it saw fit. One day however, a lone woman challenged it to single combat. The Star, confident in its omnipotence, accepted. Exactly what occurred during that fateful battle has been lost to time, but needless to say none of us would be here had The Star claimed victory. Ever since then, the woman has been considered the first huntress to ever have existed.”

“Truly an inspiring legend is it not? You all walk in the footsteps of that legendary huntress, as well as every great hunter that followed her. Now then, if you will all turn to page 253, we will begin the main portion of our lesson…”

**Choose an event. (1 time slots until minor plot event. 4 Before major plot event.)**

  * Rally (Velvet)
  * Sleepwalking (Nora)
  * Incognito (Pyrrha)
  * Home (Yang)
  * Friends (Penny)
  * Other (something else you     think Ruby should do in Vale)



**The number is 0071**

**AN: As you can see here, none of the other titans have as simple a weakness as The Spark did. There’s a reason why it was the easiest titan to shut down, both during your encounter with it, and historically. You guys aren’t gonna have as easy a time with the others.**

**Also just fyi, the major plot event is your next date with Winter.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! I forgot to update this for ages. Have an extra large update to make up for it.
> 
> I haven't been forgetting to update on the blog though. We've passed part 100 on there, so go check those out!


	22. 0071 => 0075

**0071**   


**0071: let’s go home** ****

**0071: Home**

**0071: Lets go see what’s at home. Your dad probably has a few things to say to you, and Yang might remember something!**

You decide to spend your mid-term break back at your home at Patch, both because you want to spend some time with your dad, and also to give Yang another chance to re-possess her body.

You leave Yang upstairs in her room, and Blake and Weiss up in yours, as you talk to your dad over dinner. He made beef stew and dumplings. Its nowhere near as good as your mom’s cooking, but nevertheless its pretty dang tasty.  


”Work’s been really hectic lately.” He says between bites. “Grimm activity is higher than its been in years, which is unsurprising given how scared people are. I saw uncle Qrow by the way.”  
  
You perk up at this. ”Really? How was he doing?”  
  
”He looked alright. He was drunk off his ass though, as per usual when he’s not on a mission. He didn’t stick around for long, apparently they wanted him to go locate where Cinder Fall has gone with that battleship. He was the best tracker on team STRQ, so if anyone can find whatever hole she’s hiding in, he can.”  
  
You sigh. “It would be nice if he would say hi once in a while though.”  
  
”Eh, you know how he is. In any case, don’t think I’ve forgotten about your own demon problem. As soon as things calm down a bit, I’ll get right back on that.”

“Oh great!” You say, hoping you sounded enthusiastic enough to avoid suspicion. You were hoping that everyone would just forget about that.

Once dinner is over, you head up to check on how Yang is doing. You grimace as you see Yang’s flame hovering over her body, which is as inanimate as ever.

“No luck huh?”

”I tried just slipping back in, but that didn’t work. So then I tried forcing my way back in, and… it hurt. It felt like I was being dunked in a vat of acid. Its like my body had been corrupted, like its no longer fit to hold a soul. I… I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to get back in…” Her flame dims slightly. “Hey Ruby, can I ask you a favour?”  


“Sure Yang. Whatever you want.”

She sounds slightly embarrassed. “You know the thing you did on your date with Weiss? You know, he whole hugging her soul thing. Can you do it to me?”

You hesitate for a second, due to the fear of interference from the other Ruby, but decide that its worth the risk. Once again, you reach out across the bond between you, and pull her close. A blazing warmth radiates through your body as you do so.

“…Thanks Ruby. I really needed that.”

***+500 Yang points***

* * *

**Minor story event!**

It’s the hottest day of the year so far. The sky is utterly cloudless, offering no protection from the blistering sun. Furthermore, the air is stagnant, with not even the slightest breeze to cool things down.

All in all a bad day to be saddled with lawnmower duty. However, Nora’s repeated night-time raids on the school pantry resulted in her punishment being exactly that.

You were put in charge of bringing her lunch, refilling her water bottle, and getting her extra sunscreen. You both sit in the shade and talk while she takes her lunch break.

“The worst part of it all is that I already did this bit yesterday.” She complains as she slathers sunscreen on her arms. “Somehow its already re-grown enough that I need to do it again. Its like someone sent a grass-growing demon to torment me.”

“Not everything bad in this world is caused by a demon Nora.” You say with a chuckle.

“But what if it is Ruby? What if it is?” She gets up. “Anyway, I’d better get back to work if I want to get this all done by the end of the week. Thanks for the food Rubes!”

Over in the distance, the wind makes the trees shift in a way that almost makes them look alive.

 ***+200 Nora points.** *

  


**Choose an event. (3 Before major plot event.)**

  * Rally (Velvet)
  * Sleepwalking (Nora)
  * Incognito (Pyrrha)
  * Friends (Penny)
  * Outfit (Coco)  

  * Other (something else you think Ruby should do in Vale)   




**The number is 0072.**

* * *

****

**0072  
**

**0072: Try digging information about the other Rubys in the library. Humans that was born with demons, imps that possess babies or etc…**

If anywhere in the world has answers about the other Ruby’s existence, Beacon library does. Whenever you can find the time, you go there to look for information. You look at every book that provides the slightest reference about demons existing inside a human’s soul, but find almost nothing for your efforts.

You do find one thing though, although you technically already knew it. Low level demons that find their way into Remnant could theoretically possess human babies without resistance, on account of their undeveloped consciousness. Apparently there has been absolutely no record of this occurring, and the fact that there aren’t tons of demon babies out there in the world indicates that there’s something preventing this from occurring. Yet the other Ruby did mention that there were others like you in the world, so perhaps this has something to do with it.

There is another section of the library that might have the answers you seek, the one that contains the books with dangerous information, like high power rituals, and dark magic. However they’re restricted, and not even pro-hunters can obtain permission to read them easily. You can’t just casually go and ask to borrow one for the weekend.

**0072: Let’s go see our friend Penny**

**0072: Go talk to Penny already!**

As you leave the library, you see Penny sitting on a nearby bench. Her head is drooping slightly, as if she’s half asleep. You go over to see if she’s ok.

“Hi Penny. You don’t look so good. Are you alright?”  
  
She snaps up to attention. “Oh, Ruby! I am fine, thank you for asking. Its just been a while since I have recharged so I’m trying to conserve energy.”  
  
”Recharged? Are you talking about sleep?”  
  
”Um… Yes! *HIC* That’s exactly what I mean. *HIC*”  
  
”You might want to try drinking some water, I always find that that helps with hiccups.”  
  
”Thank you. I will make sure to do that! *HIC*” She smiles at you. “I am glad to see you again. Not many people talk to me here at Beacon. My father told me to make friends while I was here, and I have been trying very hard to so, but you’re the only one so far.”  
  
Wow, that’s kind of sad. Maybe you should spend more time with her.  
  
”What have you been doing to make friends?” You ask her.

“I’ve been going around asking everyone if they would like to be my friend. Isn’t that what you do?”

“Well… Kind of, but I don’t think that you can just force friendships like that. They’re something that has to happen naturally.” Your thoughts turn to your relationship with Emerald. “I tried making friends with someone that way. For a while it seemed like things were fine… but it was all a huge lie.”

“But you’re my friend, aren’t you Ruby? And I’m yours, and that isn’t a lie.”  
  
You smile at her. ”Yeah of course. We’re friends.”  
  
* **+250 Penny points** *

**Choose an event. (2 Before major plot event.)**

  * Rally (Velvet)
  * Sleepwalking (Nora)
  * Incognito (Pyrrha)
  * Outfit (Coco)
  * Other (something else you think Ruby should do in Vale)



**The number is 0073.**

* * *

****

**0073  
**

**0073: Incognito** ****

**0073: Incognito sounds intriguing.**

**0073: Go incognito with Pyrrha!**

  


“Ughhhhh, this sucks.” You groan.

Today you were informed that your protective custody within Beacon was over, and you were now free to come and go as you please. You guess that the whole Spark debacle, combined with the fact that they’ve seen neither hide nor hair of the demons that were supposed to be hunting you down since Winter’s fight with Blake, finally convinced them that you’re not in any immediate risk.

However, within minutes of leaving Beacon you were mobbed by a bunch of people who wanted to hear about your fight with The Spark. It wasn’t a huge number of people, but it was enough that you were forced to retreat back into Beacon. Which brings you to the present moment of you lying on your bed, bemoaning your continued imprisonment.

As you are lazing about feeling sorry for yourself, Pyrrha walks in the door and immediately notices your bad mood.  


”What’s wrong Ruby? Did something happen?”  
  
”I can’t leave Beacon because I’m too famous! How the heck were you able to deal with it for so long?”  
  
Pyrrha chuckles at your words. “Winning a few tournaments isn’t quite on the level of killing a titan. Usually things do die down after a while as people move on, you just have to be patient.”  
  
”But I don’t want to be patient! I’m finally allowed out of Beacon unsupervised for the first time in months and I want to enjoy it!”

“Well then… How much social media do you use? Do you take selfies?”  
  
”Umm…. Not much since I stopped playing MMOs, and no. Why?”  
  
Pyrrha walks over to the closet and begins rummaging around. “Because, the fewer photos of you that are online, the easier it will be to disguise you.” She holds out a blue hoodie and a pair of jeans. “The advantage of wearing the same thing constantly, is that barely anyone will recognise you if you suddenly change your image. Just put these on, and you’ll see how much of a difference it makes.”  
  
You decide that its worth a shot, and take the clothes in to the bathroom to change. It feels really weird to wear something different from your normal combat skirt, but you immediately notice the difference it makes.

As you exit the bathroom, you see that Pyrrha has also changed. She is now wearing a light-yellow sundress, and has also let down her hair. You don’t think that you would recognise her with just a casual glance, and she also looks fantastic in it. Although Pyrrha could probably look fantastic if she wore an old potato sack; its just something she does naturally.

Why do all of the women around you have to be so attractive? You can’t handle it.

Pyrrha glances you up and down. “Hmmm… Blue definitely isn’t your colour, but I think it will work if you pull the hood up. In any case, why don’t you show me that coffee shop you told me about…”

***You spend the afternoon wandering around Vale with Pyrrha. +500 Pyrrha points***

**Choose an event. (1 Before major plot event.)**

  * Rally (Velvet)
  * Sleepwalking (Nora)
  * Outfit (Coco)
  * Other (something else you     think Ruby should do in Vale)



**The number is 0074.**

**AN: Pyrrha stop, Ruby’s poor little gay heart can’t take much more of this!**

* * *

****

**0074  
**

**0074: Nora is sleepwalking?**

**0074: SLEEPWALKING! SLEEPWALKING!**

**0074: Nora’s sleepwalking? Wait, didn’t Demon Ruby say that the Spark managed to put a piece of itself in her?**

You screwed up, and stayed up too late reading. Now you find yourself unable to fall asleep, as you listen to the torrential downpour of rain outside, interrupted occasionally by rumbles of thunder from distant lightning strikes.

You hear movement from the other side of the room, and turn to see that Nora has gotten out of bed and started plodding out the room, apparently sleepwalking. You heard once that waking a sleepwalker is bad luck, so decide to not do so. It would be irresponsible to leave her alone though, so you decide to follow her and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself (its not like you were doing anything else anyway).

You follow her out into the hallway. She’s not moving very fast, but you’re forced to also move slowly in order to avoid waking anyone else up. The hallways are completely dark, as Beacon has been shutting off all unnecessary lighting at night in order to save power. Consequently, you don’t see the fact that one of the members of team CERN is sleeping on the floor, on account of him getting locked out of the room. You trip over him and take quite a tumble, but somehow don’t wake him up. You have to admire his ability to sleep through something like that.  


The fall caused you to lose track of Nora, but you regain her trail when you reach the staircase and hear footsteps above you. You charge up the stairs until you finally get to the roof, and gasp in horror as you see her making her way towards one of the school’s lightning rods. Her arms are stretched wide, as if she’s beckoning the lightening to smite her.

Without hesitation, you charge forward, grab Nora, and drag her back inside. Less than a second after you get inside, a bolt of lightning strikes the rod with an ear-splitting boom. The noise causes Nora to jolt awake.

“WHATTHEHECKWASTHAT!!!” She screams before becoming aware of her surroundings. “…Ruby? Where are we? What’s going on?”  
  
”You sleepwalked up to the roof and almost got yourself fried by lightning! What the heck were you even dreaming about anyway?”  
  
”What was I dreaming about? I’m not sure. I just… I just…” Her eyes half-close and she seems to go into a trance-like state. “I needed more energy. I don’t have enough…”

No matter what you try from that point on, she doesn’t snap out of it. You decide to just guide Nora back to the dorm, where she flops down on her bed and falls asleep immediately. You force yourself to stay awake until the storm completely stops, to make sure that she doesn’t go wandering again.

Nora does not seem to remember anything the next morning, and is acting normally. You resolve to keep an eye on her during stormy nights in the future.

 ***Nora feels gratitude towards you, although she doesn’t remember what its for. +200 Nora points** *

You are currently waiting just inside the school gates, wearing the dress you wore to the prom. Winter called you earlier today, asking if you were free to go to dinner in the evening, and you accepted. She’s picking you up soon.

Now’s the time you chose to tell her about Weiss. Weiss has decided that she is ok with it, and so he only question is **do you tell her before, or after dinner?**

  * Get it over with
  * Wait until later  

  * Chicken out and don’t tell her at all (Last chance!)  




**The number is 0075**

**AN: CERN is cerulean btw. They’re probably never gonna be mentioned again.**

* * *

****

**0075  
**

**0075: Tell Winter about Weiss AFTER Dinner.** ****

**0075: Let’s have dinner first. Then take her somewhere relatively private to tell her about Weiss. And hope she doesn’t completely freak.**

**0075\. Tell her after diner. We aren’t positive how well she’ll react and we don’t want to risk ruining the date before it can even start.**

  


“I’m going to wait until after dinner to tell her about you.” You tell Weiss. “She might take the news better on a full stomach.”  
  
”At the very least you won’t ruin the evening.” Weiss responds with a sigh.

You decided to bring not only her, but also Yang and Blake with you on the date. You look kind of silly wearing your cape and carrying Crescent Rose while wearing a dress like this one, but you didn’t want to leave them back in the dorm.

A few minutes later, an actual limousine pulls up to Beacon’s front gate. The chauffer, gets out, opens the passenger door, and beacons for you to enter. You kind of feel like a movie star.

Winter is already sitting inside. She smiles sheepishly when she sees your stunned expression.

“I might have gone slightly overboard.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” You stammer. “I, uh, don’t think I’ll be able to split the bill for this date.”  
  
”Don’t worry. I’m using some of the allowance my father sends me to pay for tonight. I normally avoid using that account, and just live off what I earn, but every now and again I can’t help but treat myself.”

“How much money does he even give you, that you can afford to pay for all of this.”  
  
”I honestly don’t know how much is in that account. In his own words its ‘enough that you won’t have to live like a peasant.’”

You can’t help but burst out laughing at this. “Wow! Your dad sounds like the kind of rich person that would appear in a Saturday morning cartoon!”

Winter also chuckles. “Yes, that sums him up pretty well actually.”

You notice that there’s a drinks bar, and grab a bottle of what appears to be luxury-brand lemonade. You didn’t even think that luxury-brand lemonade existed before now. As you take a sip, you realise that the reason why you’ve never heard of it was that it doesn’t even taste as good as the regular brands.  
  
”Where are we going to eat?” You ask Winter.

“I decided to pick La Crevette. Its one of the few restaurants that haven’t been suffering blackouts in the middle of the dinner service recently. Probably because they bribed the Vale energy commission.”  
  
You almost choke on your lemonade. You’re no gourmet, but you do know La Crevette as being one of the most expensive restaurants in Vale.

You arrive there a few minutes later, and it is every bit as spectacular as it reputation has led you to believe. Its like a temple to fine dining, bedecked in black and gold. You kind of feel like you should be paying money just to be allowed breathe in this place.

“Wow you are so lucky Ruby.” Comments Yang as you enter the restaurant and behold the lavish interior. “I’m going to have to also start going out with Winter when I get a corporeal body if this is how all her dates go.”

You’re led to your table by a waiter, who gives you an odd look when he spots Crescent Rose, but doesn’t say anything. Its on the second floor, by the window. Winter orders the tasting menu for both of you, assuring you that it’s the best way to experience the restaurant in a single evening. Looking at it, you must say that it all looks pretty spectacular, but you’re pretty sure that even if you were as filthy rich as Winter you still would prefer to stick to normal food.

**If  you have any conversation topics for while you eat, suggest them now. Otherwise you could just let Winter carry the conversation.  
  
The number is 0076.**

**AN: Splitting the date into more parts then I originally thought I would so that each one doesn’t drag on too long.**

**As a side note. I headcanon Winter to secretly be a bit of a dork underneath that refined exterior (I mean no non-dorky person would unironically use the word ‘boob’ to berate someone). She spent ages planning this night out in her spare time, only realising that it might have been a bit much for only the second date once she was actually sitting in the limousine.**

**Also here’s what Rubble will get to eat tonight:**[http://www.theledbury.com/tasting-menu/.](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theledbury.com%2Ftasting-menu%2F.&t=ODlhYzQ3MWY3N2M0NTdiYmE4YmUxOWFiMzVjNTUyNjBhNmQ3NzU3ZixYUVZwREJGaw%3D%3D) Just once before I die I want to be able to eat at a place like that.


	23. 0076 => 0080

**0076**

The first course arrives, some sort of tomato and pineapple concoction. You take a careful bite, and your tastebuds are met with a rapturous symphony of flavour. Its all you can do to not just gobble down the whole thing immediately, but you try to take it slow so you don’t embarrass Winter.

She smiles, having noticed what you’re going through. “Don’t worry, I know how you’re feeling. But take it slow, there’s absolutely no rush.”

The waiter pours Winter a glass of wine, which she starts sipping. You stop him from doing the same for you. He leaves the bottle on the table.

**0076: Ask her how she’s been holding up; the Titan and blackouts must be causing a lot of work for her. Offer to assist her if she needs any.**

**0076: Ask Winter what she’s been up to. We still aren’t quite clear on the details of what happened with her during and after the whole spark incident. And it’d be nice to catch up.**

“How are you holding up since… You know… The incident?” You ask.

“My workload has doubled, but otherwise I’m fine. Atlas is essentially having to replace the software in almost half of its combat robots and ships in order to patch the vulnerability that was used by Cinder to gain control over them. The only person in Atlas who is currently having a good month is my father, unfortunately, as the software was created by one of his biggest competitors, and they’re being prosecuted over this. Not to mention the fact that he’s probably going to get the contract for replacing Vale’s power supply.”

The empty plates of the first course are taken away, and you receive the second. Its got green beans in it, which automatically makes it terrible, but you eat it anyway so you don’t look ungrateful.

“What happened to you that night anyway? I didn’t see you again until after I woke up.”  
  
”When the attack started I, and the soldiers under my command, we were ordered by Atlas command to prioritise securing the battleships. We disobeyed, and went down to Vale to save every single life we could. The higher ups are furious that my disobedience allowed Cinder to take a ship without any resistance, but they can’t exactly court martial me for choosing human lives over a piece of hardware. In fact, General Ironwood has suggested that I may be getting a promotion.”

“That’s fantastic!” You exclaim excitedly.

“It is. I will have to tread carefully though, higher rank means further to fall.”

**0076: Try to figure out a way to ask her if she’s ok with poly relationships. We’re gonna have to do so sooner or later if we’re gonna get a full harem going for Ruby.**

The third and fourth courses come and go, both much better than the second. During the fifth course you decide to ask Winter something that’s been nagging at you for a while.

“Winter, are you okay with it if I keep on dating my other friend? I’d like to, but if you’re not fine with it then I’ll stop.”  
  
”Don’t worry Ruby, I’m completely fine with it. Out of all the people in high society, its easier to name the ones that don’t have multiple partners, so I’m used to it by now. Although I must admit I didn’t put much thought into being in one such relationship.

Oh good, she’s ok with polyamory. Not many people aren’t these days, but it still pays to check.

“You’ll have to introduce me to your friend sometime soon.” She continues. “Perhaps we can all go out somewhere together.”  
  
”That might happen sooner than you think.” Weiss mutters in the back of your head.

**0076 ask about hobbies? Oh maybe she’s a singer like Weiss**

**0076: Ask if she has any hobbies or a thing she likes to do in her free time!**

You go with one of the oldest date questions in the book as you eat course number six. “What do you like to do in your spare time?”  
  
She sighs. “I don’t have enough free time to know how to answer that question. I enjoy working though. Being productive helps me to feel relaxed. As a result I usually end up looking something else to work on even when I do have free time. Sorry if that’s a bit strange.”  
  
You shake your head. ”No, I get it. I’ve dreamed of becoming a huntress my whole life, so I enjoy working towards that dream. You still should take time off though, otherwise you might just end up burning out.”  
  
”I used to enjoy painting when I was a child. Perhaps I might take that up again.”

She takes another sip of wine, and then looks you up and down, and smiles.

“Ruby, you look really nice in that dress.”

“Uh… Thanks.” You respond nervously.

**0076: Ask her what it’s like being in the military, and see if she can give you some battle tips for the future.**

Dessert comes: a sugar tart accompanied by ginger ice cream. You never thought that ginger ice cream could be nice, but it is.

“What’s your job like? How many cool military missions have you gone on?”

“Sadly its nothing as glamour… glamorous as that.” She finishes her glass of wine and pours another. You wonder how many she’s had so far, given the way she just stumbled over her words. You didn’t think to keep track.

“My job is mostly paperwork and admin… administration. That’s not to say that its not important, or that I can’t fight if I need to. Generally speaking, the less often that the Atlesian military have to fight, the better it is for everyone. However with the recent incident, I have no doubt that there will be plenty more combat soon enough.” She frowns. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down like that.”

She takes another sip from her glass.

**0076 It might not be a bad idea to let Winter carry most of the conversation as your just an awkward 15 year old on her first off campus date, but thank her for taking time out of her schedule to go on a date with you.**

You thank Winter for taking the time out of her schedule to have a date with you, as well as for bringing you to such an awesome restaurant.

“The pleasure is mine Ruby.” She says with a smile. “I don’t… I don’t take enough time off, so I think that these dates have been good for me, like you said.”

With dessert finished, the waiter brings over the bill (which you avoid looking at in order to not feel guilty), as well as even more wine and some cheese. You sample the cheese, but avoid the wine (although you get the feeling that no one would care if you did). Winter pours herself another glass though, and drinks it down before you can stop her.

With that last glass Winter can no longer hide the fact that she’s tipsy, you decide to end this before she gets full on drunk. “Its getting late, maybe we should go.” You say.

“Yes, perhaps that’s best. I’ll text the chu… chuffe… the driver.” She starts to get up, and stumbles, causing some of the other diners to glance your way. “Whoops.”

Oh dear she’s in worse condition than you thought.

“Uh… Winter how much did you drink?” You take her arm and begin leading her out. Hopefully some fresh air will help.

“Per… Perhapth… Maybe more than I sho… should have.” Her speech slurs more as the alcohol from that final glass makes its way into her system. “I heard that alcohol helped with nerves. I guess I must have overshot my threshold.”

“You were nervous?!” You exclaim in surprise.

“I’ve been thinking about this night non-stop for a week. I’ve had so few good relationships, I didn’t want to screw this one up.” Abruptly she sobs. “Oh God, and now I have! How could I be so stupid…”

”No Winter, this date has been amazing!” You reassure her. “I never thought that I would eat food like this in my entire life. And… I like you. I like being with you. You getting a bit drunk this one time isn’t going to change that!”

For a moment she seems to calm down. Then, suddenly, she pulls you into a clumsy kiss. When she breaks it off, she immediately gets a horrified look on her face.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…”  
  
You silence her by kissing her again. This time is much better. Gentle, and right in every single way. You stay that way for a long time.  
  
”Thank you so much Ruby.” Winter says. “Next time… Next time I’ll make sure that everything is perfect. I… I love you.”

 ***+2000 Winter points! But when she sobers up that will go down by 1000, so you’ve got a net gain of 1000** *

The street is empty and no one can hear you where you are. Once the limo arrives you won’t have another chance to tell her about Weiss. Its now or never.

**How do you want to go about this?**

**OR  
**

**Back down, and let the evening end without telling her.**

**  
The number is 0077  
**

* * *

 

**0077**

**0077: FUCK IT tell her that you had an amazing night, and you love her very much, and you have to tell her something important to you and you hope that it won’t destroy what you two have, but you’ll understand if she breaks off with you afterward. Then present Weiss.**

**0077: It may break her heart, but I think it’s time to tell Winter the truth. She deserves to know.** ****

**0077 Try and work your way up to it. She’s just said she loves you, so this is not the time for secrets. Also, prepare yourself for it not going well tonight, as that’s pretty likely. Give her a chance to sleep on it, and then see what she thinks next time your able to talk.**

This is a bad time to tell her, but there is never going to be a good time. You resolved to tell her tonight, and you are going to do it. No more hesitation.

“Winter… There’s something very important that I have to tell you.”  
  
”What is it Ruby?”

“I’ve been keeping a secret from you, but you have the right to know. I… hope that this doesn’t destroy what we have.”

You hold out your hand, and, like you rehearsed, Weiss visibly manifests herself above your palm as an orb of cold blue light. You tried for something more human looking, but it takes way too long for Weiss to construct an ice body in her current diminished state.

“Hello Winter.” Weiss says. “Its me, Weiss.”

Winter’s expression is at first one of dull surprise, as if she can’t properly comprehend what is being presented to her. As you watch, it becomes one of shock, and then disbelief, and then hurt.

“What… It cant be… Ruby you… You were housing a demon all this time…”

“Winter you don’t understand! Its your sister!”

“Do you really expect me to believe…”  
  
” MYRTENASTER!!!” Weiss suddenly exclaims, to the shock of both you and Winter.

“W-what?” Winter stammers.

“That was going to be the name of my weapon. I told you all about it the night before you left for Atlas academy. It was going to be a rapier, powered by multiple kinds of dust stored in a revolver cylinder in its hilt. You are the only person in the entire world that I told about it before I died. Is that enough proof that its really me, or do you need more?”  
  
For almost half a minute, Winter is stunned into complete silence. You were about to try to snap her out of it, but she speaks again before you get the chance.

”Ruby. Explain. Now.”

With that you start telling her everything. You tell her about the way Weiss came into your room and begged you for help. You tell her about the fact that she had lost her memories, and only began regaining them when she saw her. You tell her about Blake, and about Yang, and how you’ve been looking after them inside your cape, scythe, and shadow. You tell her about how they all helped you beat the bronze demon, and in the fight with The Spark.

The only thing you leave out is the fact that Weiss was the friend that you’ve been dating. You do intend to tell Winter about that too, but only after she has digested the bulk of the revelations that you are inflicting on her today. You don’t want the fact that you’re dating her sister to send her over the edge.

Winter is silent throughout. Just as you finish, as if on cue, the limo arrives.

“I’m going to need time to think.” Winter says, as you both get into the vehicle. “But until then, I won’t tell anyone.”

Neither of you talk to one another for the duration of the ride home. You’re dropped off at Beacon, and immediately head to bed, shrugging off your teammates questions about how the night went. You hope you made the right decision here…

***Winter needs time to process all this. +/- ???? Winter points***

* * *

The next morning your alarm goes off at 4am.

For a moment you just lie in bed, trying to figure out why you would ever set an alarm for this ungodly hour, but then you remember. Today is the day that you get to pick your first proper mission. You set your alarm so early so that you were guaranteed to get in before all the good missions were taken.

You try to get your teammates out of bed, but they all decide to hand full mission-picking authority over to you in favour of getting another three hours of sleep.

You review the limitations on what missions you can pick as you head down to the mission room. Missions are given difficulty rankings with letters ranging from F to A (there are higher ranked missions than A, but they don’t come up often, and aren’t usually made public).

F rank missions are basically chores and help wanted ads. Anyone can do missions of this rank, not just hunters, as they carry no risk.

E rank missions usually involve dealing with basic imp-level demons, as well as small-scale Grimm extermination missions. They require some hunting skill, and can potentially go badly if you REALLY screw up, but are otherwise also pretty easy.

D rank missions are where things tend to get slightly more interesting. You’re hoping to get one of this rank, as it’s the highest that you’ll be allowed to pick on this occasion.

The Spark, at full power, would probably have some ridiculous ranking level like SSSSSSSSSS rank, or something similar. According to Miss Goodwitch, it was only around a low B level in its weakened state. Kind of a sobering thought, considering that it nearly killed every single one of you.

As you arrive at the mission room, you see that you made the right decision by getting up this early. There are already other students (and a few pro-hunters) in the room browsing the missions. You give a tired wave to Coco when you see her. She clearly hasn’t had her morning coffee, and is an absolute mess. She grunts back what might have been some form of greeting.

You go to one of the terminals that display missions, and begin scrolling through it. One immediately catches your eye.

**-ASSISTANCE WITH EXPEDITION TO STONE MUSHROOM FOREST-  
  
Rank D**

**Reward: 400 Lien**

**Client: Mephisto labs**

**The flora and fauna of stone mushroom forest have returned to their natural state, despite the earlier demonic anomaly originating from Yggdrasil. Our scans indicate no major demonic activity (barring the typical Grimm), so the region is believed to be safe once more. Nevertheless, our team wishes to set up equipment to monitor the forest in the long-term, and we require an escort for the day.**

“The pay is pretty much minimum wage when split between the four of us.” You mutter to yourself. “But we already know the area, so it could be a good idea to pick an easy mission like this to start off.”

You move on to the next one.

**-STUDENTS ONLY: GET INVOLVED IN BUSTING A CULT!-**

**Rank: D  
  
Reward: 200 Lien, and experience.**

**Officially sanctioned mission**

**Do you plan on specialising in dismantling cults upon graduation? Begin right here, by taking part in a major cult-busting operation! Risk will be minimal, on account of our skilled team being right there alongside you. In order to avoid leaks, details will only be given on the day of the raid, so don’t miss out on this opportunity.**  
  
”The pay’s terrible, but you’ll get a chance to crack some cultist skulls.” Comments Yang. “I say you should go with this one.”

You have more options to look at before you make a decision.

**-MENAGERIE ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG!-**

**Rank: E**

**Reward: 600 Lien per day for the week-long duration of the expedition.**

**Client: Museum of Vale**

**We require two teams of hunters to assist with an archaeological expedition into the heart of menagerie, to assist in the excavation of what is believed to be a five-thousand year old temple. Students are welcome, as there will be no particular dangers, but you will be expected to pull your weight.**

“It might be nice to see the ancestral homeland of faunuskind.” Blake muses. “And it will be an interesting educational experience on top of that. My vote is for this mission.”

You scroll down further, and suddenly see something that makes your jaw drop.

**-GUARDING A SHIPMENT OF SCHNEE GOODS-**

**Rank: D**

**Reward: 1500 Lien each (plus expenses)**

**Client: The Schnee Company**

**We require four extra individuals to keep watch over a shipment of goods for the Schnee Company. The journey will take eight hours via train, running from Vale to Atlas. It is unlikely that you will see combat, on account of the automated defence systems, however recent incidents have led to us including a human presence overseeing all shipments.**

“That’s a lot of money for eight hours of doing almost nothing!” You exclaim.

“There’s a reason for that.” Responds Weiss. “My father uses missions like these as bait to try and get talented hunters to work for him full time. As long as you don’t sign anything though, its just a really well paying one-off mission. Plus, I’ll get to show you all around Atlas after its all over.”

Nothing else catches your eye. You’ve got those four options to chose from.

**What do you pick?**

  * **Revisit Yggdrasil**
  * **Bust the cult**
  * **Go on the expedition**
  * **Easy money**



**The number is 0078.**

* * *

 

**0078**

**0078: The Menagerie Dig sounds interesting and you might learn something about artifacts and most definitely about the Faunus.**

**0078 Go go Menagerie archeological researchs! The pay is good, it’ll be interesting, and maybe you’ll run into Blake-related stuff**

**0078: I say go on the expedition! While not as high paying as the train job, it is 600 lien a day, it adds up after awhile. Plus even if it is rank E my guess is that there will be no shortage of dangers near the site.**

“I’m going to go with the Menagerie expedition,” you tell the others, “it looks like it could be fun!”

You sign your team up for the mission, and head back up to your dorm to tell your teammates.

* * *

Three days later, you all head to the airport to wait for your flight. You receive a pleasant surprise as you arrive, as your find that team CVFY turns out to be the other group who signed up for the mission. You all sit down in one of the airport coffee shops to wait for your guide. You’re not kept waiting long.

“Hello there. Are you team RRVN and team CVFY?”

The speaker is a frazzled looking girl in a lab coat. Everything about her suggests that this is a girl that is incapable of looking after herself, from the dark circles under her eyes, to the fact that her hair looks like it has never seen a comb in her entire life. The only thing about her that isn’t messy is the pair of sapphire earrings that she wears.

“It is an honour to have you with us.” She continues. You notice that the rate at which she is speaking seems to be accelerating rapidly. “Especially team RRVN Hearing about how you saved Vale was amazing Its kind ofawonderwhyyouevenneedtogoonsuchasimplemissionasthisbutIsupposeyouarestillstudentsevenifyouareheroesand…” She quickly becomes unintelligible.

“Stop! You’re giving me a headache!” Coco finally cries.

The girl halts her rambling speech. “Oh I am so so sorry. You see this is my first official assignmentandIdon’twanttomessitup.” She manages to catch herself, and slows down to a more reasonable speaking pace once more. She begins nervously fiddling with one of her earrings. “In any case: my name is Henrietta Jones, assistant to the expedition leader Dr Victor Fredricks. I will be your guide until we join up with the full group upon reaching Menagerie. If you follow me, we have express boarding permission, and can get on the plane immediately.

**As you arrive in the plane you see that the seats are arranged in rows of three. Who do you end up sitting with?**   
  


  * Nora and Ren
  * Velvet and Coco
  * Fox and Yatsuhashi
  * Pyrrha and Henrietta



**The number is 0079**

* * *

 

**0079**

**0079: Sit with Pyrrha and Henrietta.**

**0079: Perhaps you should get to know Henrietta a bit better, since you’ll be working together for a week? Sitting with Pyrrha is a great bonus as well (and perhaps you two could help soothe Henrietta’s anxiety over her first assignment?)?** ****

**0079: Sit with Henrietta and Pyrrha. Maybe we can get to know Henrietta better?**

You settle down next to Pyrrha and Henrietta. Henrietta takes out a packet of air sickness tablets, chews a couple, and offers them to you and Pyrrha. You both decline.  
  
”You guys are lucky to not get sick,” Henrietta mutters ruefully. “I’m constantly having to fly around the world because of Dr Fredricks’ work. Every flight is hell for me.”  
  
”Sorry about that,” you say sympathetically. “But… Uh… Please remember to face away from me if you do end up… you know.”  
  
”Oh don’t worry about that. I haven’t eaten since… lets see…” She spends a moment counting on her fingers. “Lunchtime two days ago! And the last time I drank was yesterday afternoon. I’m completely empty.”

“What!” Pyrrha exclaims in horror. “That’s not healthy! Why would you not eat for so long!”

“I haven’t really slept either. I just get wrapped up in my work and forget about everything, including my own body. Don’t worry about it, I’m used to it. Also Dr Fredricks always makes sure that I eat and sleep and wash and stuff when he’s around. Its only because he’s over in Menagerie that I lost track of myself like that.”

“That’s nice of him.” You comment. “So Henrietta, what’s the archaeology professor like anyway?

“You can just call me Henri, my full names a bit of a mouthful.” She starts fiddling with her earring again. “He’s not actually an archaeology professor, more like an everything professor. He’s brilliant, a savant in every single field of scientific study he gets involved in. Unfortunately, he also gets bored really easily. He would probably have changed the world by now if he could stay focused on one project for more than a week. Its an honour to work under him, but its really hard when he’s constantly going after every single thing that he finds remotely interesting. The worst was the time he tried to reanimate a corpse using strong jolts of electricity.” Her eyes go out of focus as she stares into the middle distance. “That was a really bad day.”

“So is that why the expedition is only going to last a week?” Pyrrha asks. “Because the doctor won’t be interested in it for any longer than that.”  
  
”No, something this big should keep him going for almost a month. We’re going to use this week to figure out whether the temple was built by demon worshippers or not. If its just a normal temple, then we’ll be able to send half of the expedition staff home. If it’s a demon temple, then we’ll need to bring in specialists who know how to explore such a place safely. Either way, all you guys have to do is help keep the camp running, and kill any Grimm that come wandering our way.”

At that moment, the plane begins to move. Your trip has begun.

**What else to you want to say to Pyrrha and/or Henri?**

**OR  
  
Just take a nap until the flight ends (you might dream…)**

**The number is 0080.**

* * *

 

**0080**

**0080: Ask Henrietta about any other potential risks aside from Grimm, however minor they may seem. It always pays to be prepared!**

“Will there be anything we have to worry about other than Grimm?” You ask Henri.

“Potentially, but you won’t need to worry about that, as we have other, professional, hunters in our team who are more than capable of dealing with such risks. If you just stick to guarding our camp borders, then the only thing you need to worry about other than Grimm is getting sunburnt.”

**0080: let’s go to sleep. We need as much energy as we can to search the ruins. Plus, you might get to be in your soul again.** ****

**0080: Off to dreamland! The realms within your head are far more entertaining than talking to people. No offence to Pyrrha and Henrietta.**

“I’m gonna take a nap for a while. If the food cart comes by, can you get me a cookie?”  
  
Pyrrha nods. “Sure thing. I’ll wake you if anything happens.”

“Thanks.” You say, and settle down. Its not long before you drift off…

* * *

You find yourself in a snow covered forest. It looks like the forest on Patch island. If it is the same forest, then your mother’s grave should be somewhere to the West, and your home somewhere to the East.

**What do you do?**

  * Go West, towards Mom’s grave.
  * Go East, towards home.
  * Call out for the other Ruby.
  * Do something else (please specify)



**The number is 0081.**

 


	24. 0081 => 0090

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Extra long chapter because its been a while. I dearly apologize for what occurs in part 0083 and 0084. I never intended for things to go in that direction...

**0081**

**0081: Try to sense Weiss, Blake, and Yang. Even better, try calling out to them.**

You can’t feel them at all. Maybe you’re a long way from the part of your soul that they are connected to, or perhaps its because you haven’t completed the binding.

**0081: Go West, towards Mom’s grave. It would be nice to visit again, even if it’s just a dream.**

**0081: Go to mom’s grave, its been awhile before you visited her**

**0081: Head towards your mother’s grave. You haven’t been there in a while.**

Its true that you haven’t visited your mom in a long time, so you decide to head off in that direction. Even if it is your dream/soul world, it’s the thought that counts right.

As you walk through the forest, you see shadows flitting between the trees, and red eyes watching you from a distance. You don’t feel afraid though, as you get the feeling that you are far stronger than they are.

You arrive at the cliffside where your mom’s grave should be, and are surprised to see that where there was once one grave, there are now hundreds. They’re all different shapes and sizes. There’s everything from regular gravestones, to makeshift wooden markers, to even a few with statues (although you don’t recognise the women that they depict). Your mom’s grave is still in its normal spot.

You feel compelled to touch one of the graves.

**Which one?**

  * The oldest and most worn down one
  * A makeshift wooden marker
  * A grave of white marble
  * A normal, albeit extremely well tended to, grave
  * Your mother’s grave
  * None of them. You have a bad feeling about all of this.



**The number is 0082.**

* * *

 

**0082**

**0082: Touch the worn down one it just seems like something interesting would happen**

**0082: Touch the oldest one.**

**0082: Touch the oldest, most worn down one!**

You place your palm on the oldest grave, and then enter the cave in pursuit of your quarry. It was fairly easy to track it to this area of Mistral, as it didn’t really do anything to cover its trail. Why should it? It is already the strongest being on the planet.

Human bodies line the walls on either side of you, propped up by an unseen force. They’re alive, but empty, soulless. You guess that they must be the ones that came before you. Did the demon leave them out here as a deterrence? No, it doesn’t need such things. Its far more likely to be keeping them as trophies.

You finally arrive at its chamber, and see it standing before you, blazing as bright as its namesake.

You raise your scythe and smile…

* * *

You’re suddenly torn away from the grave as someone tackles you to the ground. You find yourself staring up into the face of the other Ruby, and for the first time you see the black holes that existed in place of her eyes. You squirm in horror as you feel as though they’re trying to pull you in.

_”Don’t… touch that one.”_ She gasps breathlessly, as if she had just run a very long distance. _“That one is not safe.”_

She gets up, and pulls you to your feet. You notice that she’s trembling slightly, as if she just received a big fright.

_“I call this place the memory graveyard. By touching the gravestones we get a little snapshot of one of our past lives.”_ She explains. _“Its mostly safe, if you don’t overdo it, but stay away from the old one. Also, give yourself a few days to recover. Spending too much time in someone else’s memories can cause you to lose track of who you are.”_  
  
 **Do you have anything you want to say to her/ask her?**

**The number is 0083**

**AN: When Overlord Ruby’s eyes were described as black holes, I meant the “all consuming cosmic singularity” variety of black hole, just so we’re clear.**

* * *

 

**0083**

**0083: Thanks for saving me. *smile warmly and genuinely at her***

You thank her for pulling you off of the grave, and give her a big smile. She frowns in response.

 _“Don’t think I was doing it for you. Because of you telling your friends about me, I haven’t been able to talk at all. If you want to have a good working relationship with me then that’s a pretty crummy start.”_ She sighs. _“In any other situation I would have just left you to deal with it, but if I hadn’t done anything it would have been bad for both of us.”_

**0083: inquire why she is trembling**

You ask why she seems so scared.

_“That stone holds a greater impression of our previous incarnation than the others. If you had touched it for much longer, something of her would have rubbed off on you. That woman is scarier than any demon you will ever meet, and I really don’t want you turning into version two of her.”_

**0083: Ask how she knew you were here**

_“I keep a careful eye on this grave, so I knew immediately when you started touching it. I’ll forgive you for it this time, since you didn’t know, but don’t do it again.”_

**0083: “You’re… speaking from experience, I assume?”**

“When you said that spending too much time in other memories can make you lose track of who you are, were you talking from experience?”  
  
 _”Yeah. I was. You see, the reason why you and I are different, despite the fact that we’ve lived through the exact same stuff, is because from birth I had all the memories from my past lives. Every. Single. One.”_ She grimaces. _“You have no idea how hard it is to isolate your own identity from all those others. It sent me into a coma. Your interaction with Weiss was what finally snapped me out of it.”_

**0083: Does everyone have this reincarnation dealio, or is it just for people like us who have a demon version of ourselves in our souls? How does this relate to people whose souls go to the other world and become demons like Yang, Weiss, and Blake?**

**0083: “But… my mother’s grave is here? Does that mean one of my past lives is my mother’s life?”**

_“Those are some really good questions, and luckily for you I know the answers._

_“When a soul is created, at birth, it is weak. As the person grows older, their soul grows with all the experiences they have in their life. Everything they say and do, all the people they’ve met, all the places they’ve been, home. All of that contributes to the soul. Eventually that person dies, and they pass on to wherever the hell mortal souls go when they die.”_  
  
”However, when someone with a particularly strong soul dies, not all of it passes on. A chunk of it goes and latches on to the first newborn of the same soul-type that it can find, and becomes part of a new person. Some souls, like ours, keep getting reincarnated over and over, constantly growing larger. I imagine that there’s some sort of limit, but I don’t know what happens if you reach it.

_“Unfortunately for you, while they’ve probably been reincarnated as much as we have, Weiss, Yang , and Blake’s transformation into demons is something entirely different. My existence is technically related to reincarnation, but its not the reason why I’m here. As for why mom’s grave is here… I don’t want to talk about it right now.”_

**0083: Ask her what the hell that was. You need to learn about all the lives you’ve lived, and the fact that you could have been an executioner scares you. A lot.**

You ask if you’ve ever been anyone bad, like an executioner or something.

_“Even if you were, that has no relationship with who you are now. My advice: forget about this graveyard. These people aren’t you, and you, unlike me, have a choice to not make them a part of you.”_

**0083: Ask WTF those shadows were back in the forest.**

_“They’re all the bad parts of you. The nastiness, the pettiness, the evil. Don’t worry, because you’re such a goody two-shoes they are REALLY weak. They can’t do anything unless you let them.”_

**0083: Well, you have to start somewhere: Hi, how have you been? Ah, and maybe you should ask her something you forgot to ask last time… Can she see what happens through your eyes? Seemed that way… But then can she hear all of your thoughts too?**

You ask if she can see through your eyes, or read your thoughts.

_“I see everything you see, feel everything you feel, etc etc. I can’t read your mind though. Minds are hard to read and tamper with, you need skill rather than power. Any demon that can do that is basically immediately elevated half way to titan level, regardless of how strong they actually are. Only The King ever really mastered the art of the mindfuck though.”_

**0083: Tell Overlord Ruby her eye’s are amazing. Let the wooing begin.** ****

**0083: say “I should have become a photographer instead of a huntress, because I can picture you and I together.”**

For some reason you decide to compliment her eyes (which are admittedly really freaking awesome, if terrifying), and then follow it up with an extremely cheesy pick-up line. The other Ruby looks flabbergasted.

_“I… What… You aren’t serious… Are you?”_

**Are you serious? (feel free to specify the wording)**

  * Yes
  * No
  * Maybe



**The number is 0084.**

**_AN: I know what the answer is gonna be, but I need to give you one last chance to turn away from the path of selfcest. (also this part is long enough already)_ **

* * *

 

**0084**

**0084 Y E S YOU ARE SERIOUS AF  
**

**0084: Why wouldn’t we be serious?**

**0084: *Tease her a little* Maaaaaaaybe~? “But even if my feelings for you are not romantic, everyone deserves a friend. And *that* I’m certainly are serious about.”**

“Well… I do want to be friends with you at least, and if it leads to something more than that’s great!” You declare enthusiastically.

Her face rapidly turns the colour of an overripe tomato. _“This… explains a lot of the weirder parts of you that I found in here.”_ She shakes her head, as if to clear it. _“Screw this, I’m ending this conversation before it gets any weirder.”_

You’re then jolted awake by the aeroplane touching down.

 ***Overlord Ruby/Anti-Ruby unlocked as romace option. Current relationship level: -500** *

“Did you have any nice dreams?” Yang asks.

“Uh… Yeah I guess I did.”

You have to give Henrietta a helping hand off the plane, as the journey really didn’t agree with her. Once you get out of the airport, its just a short bus ride to the hotel where the rest of the expedition are staying.  
  
As you arrive there you notice the number of trucks in the car park. It seems that this expedition is pretty large-scale.

“Sorry to force more travel on you so soon, but we’ll be leaving in about two hours.” Henri tells you.  
  
”Darn, I was hoping to have more time to show everyone around.” Velvet says, slightly crestfallen. “Well, we may as well see what we can in the time that we do have. Who’s with me?”

**What do you do in your period of free time?**

  * Be responsible: Go introduce yourself to the expedition leader
  * Be prepared: Go meet the other hunters that will be accompanying you.
  * Have some fun: Agree to go sightseeing with Velvet and Coco
  * Go do something else (please specify)



**The number is 0085**

**AN: Anti-Ruby’s still mad about you telling Weiss, Blake, and Yang about her. You’ll have to mend that bridge before you can get any further with her.**

* * *

 

**0085**

**0085: Go and meet Dr Frankenst… I mean Dr Fredricks**

**0085: Go meet this Victor guy. Maybe you can find out more details on what he’s searching for?**

**0085: Tell Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren to relax and enjoy themselves while they can. You should go perform your duties as a leader.**

“I should probably go and tell our boss that we’ve arrived.” You tell everyone.  
  
”Oh, right. That’s… probably a good idea.” Coco responds hesitantly. “Do you want me to go too?”  
  
”No, its fine, you guys go have fun!”  
  
”Ok, if you think you can handle it on your own!” Coco looks relieved. You guess that she’d been looking forward to seeing Velvet’s home city.

As the rest of your group heads off, you go to the reception and find out that Dr Fredricks is staying in the room at the end of the third floor corridor.

As you start heading up the stairs you hear an enormous boom coming from above you. You rush up to the third floor, and see that the door to the doctor’s room has been blown open from the inside. A soot-blackened body lies motionless halfway down the corridor, having been blown there by the force of the blast. You approach it, fearing the worst…

“EUREKA!!!!!” He cries, leaping up to his feet. “A PERFECT REACTION! I’ll need to work on the dosage somewhat, but otherwise this experiment was an unmitigated success!” He glances around at the debris surrounding him. “I will have to pay the hotel for damages though. It’s a good thing I took the time to budget for that.”  
  
The man who stands before you is the perfect image of a mad-scientist. A tall, gangly, individual with out-of-control white hair, wearing a lab coat. On his face are a pair of strange, high-tech goggles. Even while standing still he twitches with the kind of hyperactivity that only Professor Oobleck can match.

He turns and notices you. “OH! You must be Ruby Rose!” He grabs your hand and begins shaking it with a level of vigour that makes you feel like you’re about to be lifted off the ground. “It is so very nice to meet you! I love seeing young minds take an interest in history and science! I hope that by the end of your time with us you will feel slightly more enlightened about the world!”  
  
”What the heck happened here?!” You cry.

“Oh this? I was testing a new excavating explosive that, in theory, would blast away earth and dirt while leaving the stones of the temple itself completely undamaged! I just completed a successful test of the concoction when you arrived. The shockwave from the blast was quite strong, blowing me right through the door, but as you can see I am otherwise intact. Kind of a shame really, if I had lost a limb in the blast then I would have had an excuse to test out a few new prosthetic designs.” He sighs wistfully. “In any case, if you would like to come inside my room we can discuss the details of our expedition.”

**What do you do?**

  * Accept. You’re kind of curious about what is in there.
  * Decline. This guy seems like he could be hazardous to your health.



**The number is 0086.**

* * *

 

**0086**

**0086: Accept! You want to be polite… and it’s not every day you get an opportunity to take a close look at a brilliant mad scientist’s inventions, after all!**

**0086: Accept. Your work on Crescent Rose means you’ve handled explosives and live ammo already.**

**0086: GO WITH BILL NYE THE SCIENCE GUY’S WEIRD COUSIN.**

You cautiously follow him into the bedroom, although bedroom is a pretty generous term for what you see inside. The room has been converted into a makeshift laboratory, filled to the brim with weird gadgets and gizmos. The explosion has knocked a few things over, but somehow everything seems to be intact. You guess that a guy like him would probably invest in explosion-proof equipment after the first few ti… IS THAT A HUMAN HEAD??!??!?!?

“Oh don’t mind him.” Says Dr Fredricks upon noticing your horror at the head floating in a jar of preserving fluid. “That’s just Frank, or what’s left of him at least. Also I’m not a murderer if that’s what you’re thinking. The previous owner donated his body to science after his death. I’ve been meaning to find another use for him at some point.” He snatches up a device that looks like a polaroid camera and points it at you. “SMILE!!!”

You barely have time to get out a quizzical “What the…” before you’re momentarily blinded by the camera’s flash. When your sight returns you see the doctor studying the picture that it printed out very carefully.

“Hmmmmmmm, interesting. My new prototype extra-sensitive demonic detector is showing that you are absolutely saturated with demonic energy.”

…Wait what?

“The levels aren’t much higher than the typical residue surrounding a hunter, but that typically takes years of constant combat with demons before it settles in permanently. You would have to be having extremely close contact with demons almost constantly in order to be so saturated at your age. This can only mean one thing……”

Oh god, please don’t figure it out. OhnoohnoohnoohnoOHNO!!!

“…Your run in with The Spark must have accelerated the process.” He finishes cheerfully. “Don’t worry, you’re perfectly safe and healthy. Most devices wouldn’t even detect demonic energy of such a low level.”  
  
You barely suppress an enormous sigh of relief. He just came way too close to figuring out your connection with Weiss, Yang, and Blake.

“In any case our expedition will be investigating THAT!” He points to a diagram on the wall that is indecipherably badly drawn. “It is a massive underground complex, most likely a temple, that was discovered a couple of months ago by a pair of brothers working on their farm. The government has since purchased the land from them in exchange for a reasonably hefty initial fee, along with a cut of any tourist revenue from the site should it turn out to be safe enough for such things. As you can no doubt clearly see from the diagram, we have absolutely no clue how deep this thing goes, who built it, and whether or not it has any deadly traps or horrible monstrosities inside. ISN’T IT ALL SO EXCITING!!!!!”  
  
”Wow that’s awesome!” You respond, thoroughly invested.

“Unfortunately for you, you will not be entering the structure unless it is proven to be absolutely one hundred and ten percent safe. I don’t mind risking my own life and limb for the sake of SCIENCE, but I will not risk yours, or the lives of your teammates. You just keep an eye on our camp perimeter and deal with the occasional Grimm that tries to eat our researchers, and leave the exploration to the other hunters.”

You give a mock salute. “Leave it to us boss!”

“Wonderful!” He takes a glance at a device on his wrist that might have been a watch at some point. “Hmm, it seems that we will be leaving fairly soon. I don’t suppose you’ll help me get my bags into the van?”

You spend some time helping the doctor pack everything up for the trip. By the time you’ve finished your teammates have arrived back from sightseeing, and the convoy is able to set off. You arrive at the base camp soon afterwards.

Your first mission has officially begun!

**Choose one of the locations in the camp! (4 time slots remaining)**

  * Entrance to the ruins
  * Dr Fredricks’ tent
  * Henrietta’s tent
  * Your tent
  * Mess tent
  * Camp perimeter
  * The well



**The number is 0087**

* * *

 

**0087**

**0087: Check out the well for no reason at all :D** ****

**0087: Go check out that well. Who knows what could happen there!** ****

**0087: Go to the Well. Don’t you feel a little thirsty, Ruby? Maybe dating Nora would fix that. Or maybe that kind of thirst cannot be satiated. Maybe it would be if you, say, became queen of remnannt and dated allll the girls. But in the meantime, go to the well drink a lil. Or not drink, if there’s no water. lament on how thirsty you are about it.**

Date Nora? But you’re already dating Weiss and Winter, as well as flirting with yourself. That’s already two girlfriends and one potential girlfriend. Isn’t that enough? Isn’t there a limit? (The answer to both of those questions is no.)

In any case, you decide to go and temporarily douse your thirst for new girlfriends (as well as your spontaneous new desire for world conquest), at the nearby well. You’ll be coming here a lot, as while there is an ample supply of bottled drinking water back at camp, you’ll be using the water from the well for cooking and washing.  
  
You drop the bucket into the water below. The rope its attached to sways to the right, and so you deduce that you’re pulling water from an underground river, which is kind of neat!

Pulling the newly filled bucket back up is easy, since it is less than a third of the weight of Crescent Rose. It seems clean enough, so you just take a long drink directly from the bucket. The cool water tastes unbelievably delicious in the blistering Menagerie sun.

You manage to stop gulping just in time to avoid swallowing a hard object that flows into your mouth. You spit it into your palm, and discover it to be a perfectly spherical blue stone, less than a centimeter in diameter. You decide to pocket it as a souvenir, before heading back to camp.

You grab a snack at the mess tent as you go past. All that water has made you feel hungry for some reason.

**Choose one of the locations in the camp! (3 time slots remaining)**

  * Entrance to the ruins
  * Dr Fredricks’ tent
  * Henrietta’s tent
  * Your tent
  * Mess tent
  * Camp perimeter



**The number is 0088.**

* * *

 

**0088**

**0088: Check out the camp perimeter for anything. Better be familiar with your surroundings**

**0088: Check the perimeter. It’s good to see what we’re guarding and any vantages we can find.**

**0088 explore the camp perimeter! gotta make sure there are no one to seduce, I mean, no Grimms around! Plus, it’s always a good idea to get to know your surroundings, in case you get an emergency place to hide to make out or avoid getting mauled by a monster!!** ****

Regrettably the only secluded spot for sneaky makeouts in the immediate vicinity, a rock formation just south of the well, was claimed last night by Coco (much to Velvet’s embarrassment). Besides, you don’t really have anyone to makeout with since Weiss won’t be able to make any sort of body in this heat (except for maybe Nora, perhaps she’d be up for it, or maybe Blake would be able to make some sort of shadow body or something).

In any case, there’s not actually much to see around the camp. There’s a few rocks, some shrubs, and a couple of dried out trees. Even the temple itself is just a hole in the ground (although you assume that what’s inside is far more interesting). There aren’t many Grimm either in this area of Menagerie either (and you’re honestly thankful for that, you don’t want to have to deal with those drop-bears that you’ve heard about). All in all things are about as quiet and simple as you would expect from an E ranked mission.

When it comes round to your turn to keep watch, you and Pyrrha decide to pass the time with a sharpshooting competition, using empty cans as targets. You’re pleasantly surprised to discover that you are actually a better shot than her, even without using Crescent Rose’s scope.

Coco swaggers over while you’re setting the targets for round three. From her slightly dishevelled appearance, and the fact that she came from the direction of the rocks, you can guess what she’s been up to.

“Hey guys!” She says cheerfully. “What are you up to?”

“We’re having a sharpshooting competition.” You hold Crescent Rose out to her. “Want to give it a try?”

”Don’t mind if I do!”

She ignores Crescent Rose, and transforms her bag into its chaingun form. After a few seconds of windup it begins spraying an enormous stream of death in the direction of the targets. The cans aren’t so much shot as they are obliterated.

“Uh… I think you missed the point of it being a sharpshooting contest…” You comment.

“Why the heck would I need to aim? When I pull the trigger on this beauty, everything in the direction I’m facing gets obliterated. You guys really should upgrade your little pea-shooters to a real gun.”

“It’s not the size of the gun, its how you use it!” Pyrrha responds. She gets a confused expression when you and Coco both start sniggering. “What? What did I say?!

***Coco +100, Pyrrha +100***

**Choose one of the locations in the camp! (2 time slots remaining)**

  * Entrance to the ruins
  * Dr Fredricks’ tent
  * Henrietta’s tent
  * Your tent
  * Mess tent



**The number is 0089.**

**AN: Menagerie is basically Australia.**

**Also Pyrrha does not understand innuendo. Protect her innocence.**

* * *

 

**0089**

**0089 check out dr fredbear’s tent!! It’s bound to be ton of stuff hazardoud to your health, like explosives, gunswords, swordguns, and dr Frédérick! What’s not to love?**

**0089: Go to Fredrick’s tent! you need more weirdness and explosions in your life**

Calling Dr Fredricks’ tent a tent feels like somewhat of an understatement, as it is approximately the size of a small apartment. As you walk past it, you hear him talking on the phone inside. It sounds like an important call, so you decide to listen.

“…Yes I know that time is short, but this kind of delicate operation cannot be rushed… We’ve run into blockages in the tunnels, its taking time to clear them out… Oh come now, I’ve only been at the site for two days now, have a little more patience… You’ll get what you want when the task is finished… It might take anywhere between a few days and several months, we don’t know how deep this thing goes… What about the students?… They’re not going to get in the way of anything, they’re just here to keep the Grimm away… Yes well, contrary to appearances, I do actually know what I’m doing… Well if you think you can find someone capable of doing a better job, then you’re free to fire me at any time… Yes, yes, I’ll have a report done by the end of the week, good day to you Madam.”

You hear him hang up and begin to move towards the tent exit. You try to act like you were nonchalantly waiting for him, and not eavesdropping.

“Oh! Miss Rose,” He exclaims as he sticks his head out of the tent and notices you. “Were you waiting for me?”

“Uh… Yeah! I was kind of wondering how things were going with the excavation?”  
  
”Of course you were! Come in and I shall tell all.”  
  
You step into his tent. Despite how roomy it looks on the outside, the inside is extremely cramped due to all the workbenches and scientific paraphernalia. There doesn’t seem to even be a bedroll. (Perhaps he’s invented some sort of super-coffee that removes the need for him to sleep. From what you’ve seen so far, that’s probably not far off from the truth). In the centre of the tent there is an object covered in a white sheet.

“Unfortunately, we have been making slow progress thus far,” he explains. “This is primarily due to the fact that the upper six floors of the ruins appear to mostly consist of living quarters and the like, and thus contain little of interest. Until we clear out, and stabilise, the tunnels that will allow us to progress further downwards, we will not be discovering much of interest. Thankfully, we have made one little discovery that indicates that we will be rewarded for our efforts. BEHOLD!!!”

He pulls the sheet off of the object, revealing it. It appears to be a broken down stone statue, but there’s something about it that makes you uneasy.

“It’s a golem! An ancient automaton, once used to combat demons, or to simply perform menial tasks. Their method of creation was lost long ago, but we may be able to rediscover it here.” He frowns. “Sadly, we have yet to figure out how to power it. It is possible that there is a central power system deeper in the ruins, but we have yet to reach it if such a thing exists.”  
  
”In any case, I’m afraid to say that I have work to do.” He begins ushering you out of the room. “Feel free to come over some other day though, I am always happy to share my findings.”

**Choose one of the locations in the camp! (1 time slot remaining)**

  * Entrance to the ruins
  * Henrietta’s tent
  * Your tent
  * Mess tent



**The number is 0090.**

**AN: The only reason why he put the sheet over the golem was so he could do the dramatic reveal.**

* * *

 

**0090**

**0090: Check out the entrance to the ruins? Maybe you’ll see something interesting to you (Or to Overlord Ruby, for that matter)?**

**0090: These ruins are the reason you’re here after all, it would be a waste if you didn’t at least take a peek at the entrance.**

**0090: Head to the entrance. You need to become familiar with what you may have to protect.**

You decide to go check out the ruins entrance. Perhaps the doctor will let you have peek inside, since you know they’ve already cleared out the first six floors at least.

As you start to get closer, you realise that you’re feeling a little bit peckish. Maybe someone over by the entrance has a snack that you can eat. You press onwards, quickly going from peckish, to hungry, to ravenous as you come within five metres of the entrance.

You finally stop your approach as you come to the realisation that the hunger that you are feeling isn’t coming from your stomach, its coming from your soul.

“Why did you stop?” Asks Blake. “Weren’t we going to look at the ruins?”

“I’m feeling this weird hunger in my soul.” You tell them. “Its getting worse as I get closer to the ruins. I don’t think we should go there.”

“Who cares!” Says Weiss dismissively. “I’m hungry too, its no reason to stop.”

“Besides, we will be able to eat inside.” Says Blake. “I can feel it.”

You’re starting to feel really worried for them. “I don’t know if I should…”

“JUST GO ALREADY!!!” Yells Yang in a manner that is almost feral.

You immediately start dashing in the opposite direction of the entrance. Weiss Blake and Yang scream at you to go back, to let them eat. They only begin to calm down when you reach the opposite side of the camp, where the hunger begins to fade, albeit only gradually.

“S-sorry Rubes.” Yang stammers weakly. “I don’t know what the hell came over us.”

“Its fine.” You murmur back to her. Your mind is racing. You haven’t seen anyone else in the camp acting strangely. Does this mean that the ruins only affect demons? Either way, you now know that whatever is down there can’t be good. You’d better stay away from it for the rest of the trip.

* * *

On the morning of day five, everyone draws straws in order to decide who gets which chore. You draw one of the two straws for perimeter patrol. Obviously you have absolutely no way to influence who picks the other straw, but if you somehow did have such power, **who would you like to accompany you on your morning patrol?**

  * Nora
  * Pyrrha
  * Ren
  * Velvet
  * Coco



**The number is 0091.**

 


	25. 0091=>0100

**0091**

**0091 why, Nora of course. There’s nothing more romantic than doing chores together, right? Plus, you may not be hungry anymore’, but I bet you’re thirsty.** ****

**0091: Hello, Ruby. Look at your girlfriends. Now look at Nora. Now back to them. Now back to her. Sadly, they aren’t her. But if you take this opportunity to be with Nora she might want to become your girlfriend. Look down. Look back up. Where are you? You’re by yourselves with the perfect chance to talk about whatever without interruption. I’m on a horse.** ****

**0091: As much as you would hate to tear Nora away from Ren, you should have her come with you. She still has a part of the Spark in her, and after what you experienced before, you need to keep an eye on her to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen to her.**

As luck would have it, Nora also gets patrol duty. What an amazing coincidence! (You would have been happy with Pyrrha too though.)

You begin your patrol around the camp perimeter. You make sure to give the ruins’ entrance a VERY wide berth when it comes time to pass by it. Nora gives you a questioning look as you do so, but doesn’t comment on your decision.

“Hey Ruby, have you talked to Henri since the plane trip?” Nora asks you suddenly.

“Nope. Why?”  
  
”Its just that she’s acting kind of weird. I’ve noticed that she’s constantly calling her sister on the phone, like once an hour at least. She never really seems to be enjoying making the calls either. I mean I’ve never had any brothers or sisters, except for Ren I guess, but I’m pretty sure that if I did I wouldn’t be calling them all the time like that.”

That is pretty weird. You love Yang, and like spending time with her, but even then there’s a point where you both need some space (not that you really have a choice currently). You decide to change the subject, since you feel kind of uncomfortable gossiping about someone else. “By the way, what do you think of the mission so far?”

“Well we can’t expect every mission to be interesting. At least we’re getting paid a lot. By the end of this we’ll have made one thousand and fifty lien each.”

“Yeah that’s true. Maybe after this is over we can all go out and…”

Her sentence is cut short as you hear a loud crack coming from beneath her feet. You look down, and see the ground beneath her beginning to crumble.

**What do you do?**

  * Grab her hand
  * Shove her out of the way
  * Jump out of the way yourself
  * Other (Please specify)



**The number is 0092.**

* * *

 

**0092**

**0092: Grab Nora and use your weapon’s recoil to propel you and Nora (into the sunset) out of the hole!**

**0092: Grab her hand and pull her close. Maybe even into a hug if you’re fast enough!** ****

**0092: grab her hand!! (is it soft, tell me? I bet you’ve always wanted to do that. Though now is not exactly the best opportunity) whatever is coming, you’re in together. Better than one of you alone and betrayed**

You lunge forward and grab her hand (which is more hard and calloused than soft. Unsurprising considering her choice of weapon, your hands are in a similar state.) just as the ground beneath her collapses. You hold on to her for dear life as she dangles over the black pit below. You begin to try and pull her up, but the ground that you’re standing on gives way, and you both begin plummeting into the abyss.

Blake immediately spreads herself out as much as she can, trying to slow your descent like a parachute, while Weiss and Yang blast you with updrafts of hot and cold air. You can already feel that it won’t be enough though, and you won’t be able to use Crescent Rose to blast yourself out without letting go of Nora. All you can do before your fall ends is move to shield Nora from the ground with your own body…

* * *

You open your eyes to find to find yourself in the field of roses once again. The other Ruby is standing over you, with her typical grin.

_“Ouch. That is really gonna hurt when we wake up. Don’t worry about any broken bones though, those will heal quickly enough…”_

“Heal quickly? What do you mean by that?”

_“I used some of the power I got from The Spark to improve our body’s ability to heal. Its how we managed to survive our fall into the lake without being crippled. It won’t replace organs or limbs, but we’ll recover from anything non-fatal within a couple of days at most. It shouldn’t take too long for you to wake up, so we’ll just sit tight until then.”_

**What do you want to say or do in the mean time?**

**The number is 0093.**

* * *

 

**0093**

**0093 ask her if there’s anything else she’s improved? You’re not complaining, just curious**

**0093: Ask if you got anything else from the extra power of The Spark.**

**0093: “Wait… improved healing?? is that why my periods have stopped being as painful as being turned inside out??? I could kiss you! …Actually, I will, tyvm. /kiss <3”**

She shoves you away before you can smooch her. _“NO KISSES! WE ARE NOT DOING THAT!”_ She takes a moment to gather herself before continuing. _“Yeah I did make our periods a little less painful, but I did that separately from the healing improvement, because periods suck. I could have done a bunch of other stuff, but any further changes than that would’ve meant that you would have stopped being human.”_

She gets a wistful look on her face. _“I hope that you do decide to give up on that boring humanity stuff eventually. Then we can make some cool changes, like improving your teeth, wings, maybe even an extra pair of arms or something. The possibilities are endless!”_

**0093 What is up with the temple, it caused WBY to go crazy when we approached.**

**0093: Ask OR Why you and WBY felt hunger when going near the temple.**

**0093: Thank OR for helping you out yet again. Hug? Or no? Ask her if she knows what’s going on in these ruins and why WBY got so gluttonous earlier… and is she drooling?**

_“Huh? Oh yeah I am. Sorry.”_ She wipes a string of drool off her mouth. _“Demons tend to get a bit rabid when we sense a lot of easy food nearby. Although the feeling I get from this is kind of like… You know pitcher plants? The ones that lure insects and small animals in with the promise of food, only for them to slip and fall into its digestive juices? It kind of feels like this ruin is something similar to that.”_

**0093: Speaking of the Spark… where is the body in our soul? Has she already eaten it all? And if overlord strawberry has a some of the Spark’s power, does that mean she is stronger than before?**

Her grin gets a few teeth wider. _“Yup! Its all gone. And I’m way stronger than I used to be. Hungrier too. I hope you get me another meal soon!”_

**0093: when you have nothing else interesting to say, tell her that if she was a vegetable, she’d be a cutecomber.**

She sighs. _“So you’re still going to keep going with that… Alright fine. I’ll make a deal with you. If you give me another meal, I’ll not only forgive you for telling the others about me, but I’ll even give you a little kiss. Sound good?”_

You’re about to respond, when suddenly you’re jolted out of your soul and back into the waking world as water is dumped on your face. The culprit, Nora, stands over you with a half-empty water bottle.  
  
”Ow ow ow oW OW OW **OW OW!!!”** You exclaim as the pain from your fall suddenly hits you.

“Oops! Sorry Ruby.” Says Nora. “Maybe I should have left you for a bit longer…”

“No… It’s fine.” You groan. “Are you ok?”

”I’m a little bruised, but I don’t think anything’s broken. Thanks for trying to save me, even if it just meant we both ended up falling.” She quickly leans in and gives you a peck on the cheek. You’re not sure if it was just Nora being platonically affectionate or not, but it felt nice either way.

***+500 Nora points***

You pull yourself to your feet, and look around.

You’ve fallen into a massive underground cavern. The hole that you fell into is nothing more than a tiny pinprick of light above you, far too high for you to even consider climbing up to, even with assistance from Crescent Rose. The ruins tower before you, enormous enough to dwarf Beacon’s tallest spires. There’s a gap in its wall that’s wide enough to enter, leading to two staircases that lead either up or down.

As the pain from your injuries subsides, you feel the hunger again, stronger than ever. You check to see if the others are okay.

“We’re… fine.” Yang grunts. “I think we can resist it since we know what to expect.”

Its clear that she’s under a lot of strain though. You need to either get out, or deal with the source of this hunger quickly.

You pull out Crescent Rose and have Yang light it ablaze in order to use it for light. Heading upstairs is probably the way out, but the hunger is drawing you downstairs.

**What do you do?**

Head upstairs through the ruins

Head down deeper into the ruins

Wait here for rescue (choose to switch perspective to either Pyrrha, Coco, Ren, or Velvet as they try and rescue Nora and Ruby from above)

**The number is 0094**

* * *

 

**0094**

**0094: Yeaaaaaah, if Overlord Ruby has a bad feeling about this ruin being a trap, then you should probably listen to her. Try to find a way towards the entrance by heading upstairs.** ****

**0094: Subtly ask Nora if she’s also feeling hungry. It’ll probably be safer to try and head upstairs, but if this place is like a pitcher plant… there will definitely be traps…**

**0094: Get moving up through the ruins. It’ll probably get easier to resist the hunger as you increase your distance from it.**

A massive growl from Nora’s belly answers your question of whether or not she’s hungry before you even have the chance to ask it. You’re not sure if its just regular hunger, or if she is also feeling demonic hunger, but you’re not going to be able to ask her without it seeming suspicious.

You decide that going down towards the source of the hunger might be a bad idea, and instead decide to head upwards. You hold Nora’s hand to make sure that you don’t get separated from her (TOTALLY THE ONLY REASON FOR DOING SO! YEP! NO ULTERIOR MOTIVES AT ALL!). The hunger doesn’t subside at all as you climb, which isn’t surprising given how bad it was back when you were merely at the entrance.

You don’t climb for long before you hit a roadblock, in the form of a massive pile of rubble blocking the stairs (you barely manage to stop Nora from just blasting it with Magnhild). With no other option, you head into the room on the level where you were stopped.

The room is massive, so large that Yang’s brightest flames can barely illuminate a quarter of it. That alone is not what stuns both you and Nora into complete silence however, as carved deep into the floor is the most gargantuan summoning circle you have ever seen, or even heard about. Despite the ruins’ age, you can still feel residual energy emanating from the circle. The location, the age of the ruins, and the fact that you can still feel the energy of the summoning five thousand years later all point to one thing: you are currently standing the place where The Flesh was brought into the world.

You turn to look at Nora, and from the expression on her face you can tell that she’s come to the same conclusion that you have.

“Ruby… I don’t think we should let anyone see this…”

She’s right. If the design of this circle was revealed to the world, it would be only a matter of time before some maniac used it to summon a titan. Dr Fredricks seems like a good man, who would understand why this should never be allowed to become common knowledge, but you can’t say the same for every member of the expedition.

You can’t just destroy the circle, its too big, even if you use every single one of Magnhild’s grenades. Damaging it partially is not good enough, as someone would eventually reconstruct it. All in all, the easiest way to save the world is to make sure that the expedition doesn’t even realise that this circle exists.

**What now?**

  * Start clearing out the rubble (and stay with Ruby and Nora)
  * Start clearing out the rubble (and switch to one of the others)
  * Head downstairs
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0095**

* * *

 

**0095**

**0095 welp, nothing for it, if someone’s going to be summoning the flesh it had better be ruby. get out her necronomicon and start chanting.**

Yeah there is no way in hell you’re gonna do that. Besides, The Flesh is already in this world, just sealed away in some unknown location. If you used this circle, you would probably get a brand new titan.

**0095: Ask Nora if there is any way to either remotely detonate or set a timer on her grenades. If either of these if true, start rigging this place to blow. The easiest way to ensure no one finds it is to completely bury it. But uh make sure you set it to explode when you a route out for sure.**

You ask Nora if there is a way to detonate her grenades on a timer, so you can bury this whole place without getting caught inside.

“Sorry Rubes, that won’t work. My grenades detonate on impact, there’s no fuse.”

Dang, oh well. It would have only been a temporary measure anyway, someone would have dug the place up at some point.

**0095: Memorize as much of the circle as you can, runes, symbols, anything. The details may come in handy later especially if you can find a way to destroy it. Perhaps heading deeper will provide you with answers?**

The circle is way too enormous, and way too complex for you to memorise it all. You do still take the time to walk across the room and look at as much of it as you can though, as perhaps some part of you inside your soul will manage to remember all the details if you ever need them.

**0095: You know from overhearing Dr. Fredrick talking on the phone in his tent that he’s doing this excavation as a ‘delicate operation’ for some other party. Could this circle be the reason? You don’t know, and you don’t want to guess blindly, but If the others are going to clear the rubble quicker to try and rescue you, you don’t have much time to spare. Try heading downstairs and looking for some way to collapse the room from below!**

Collapsing the room from below… that might actually work! The circle would be shattered as everything crumbles, rather than just being buried. You’ll still need to figure out a way for you and Nora to not get crushed though.

You begin heading down the staircase. Unlike your short climb upstairs, you are able to head much further down without interruption (although at one point you are forced to climb over a golem that has collapsed on the stairs). Eventually, you reach what you assume is the lowest floor.

The room is just as large as the circle room, but that is where the similarities end. It consists of a narrow walkway over a massive vat of a bubbling liquid that would almost look like water if not for its iridescent sheen. Your hunger drives you to dive in to it, and it takes almost all your willpower to resist. Judging from how uncomfortable Nora looks right now, she’s going through something similar.

At the end of the walkway, in the exact centre of the room, there is a small black pedestal. You walk over to it, clutching Nora’s hand all the while (you’re not sure whether you do so to keep her from jumping off, or to keep yourself from doing so). After what feels like hours, but was probably a minute at best, you reach the pedestal. As you examine it, you are able to find no distinguishing features save for a small recess in the top that is the exact same size and shape as the blue marble you found earlier.

**What do you do?**

  * Insert the marble into the pedestal.
  * Don’t. For all you know this is some sort of doomsday device or something equally terrible.
  * SATE YOUR BOTTOMLESS HUNGER!
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0096**

* * *

 

**0096**

**0096: Well nothing risked nothing gained. STICK IT IN THE HOLE!**

**0096: Yeah, let’s not dive into the ominous obviously-a-trap liquid. Insert the marble! It might be a trap as well, but your options are very scarce.** ****

**0096: insert the marble into the pedestal. what’s the worst that could happen?**

This is probably a really bad decision, but it has been far too long since you last made one, so you plug it in to the socket, while Nora gives you a ‘what the hell are you doing’ kind of look.

The second you insert the marble into the socket, a massive plume of blue smoke erupts out of it. You hold Crescent Rose at the ready, watching as the smoke circles the platform once, twice, three times, and then plunges down onto the walkway in front of you, condensing and shaping itself into…

“HOLY SHIT I’M FREE! ITS ABOUT GOD DAMN TIME!”

…the shape of a two foot tall imp. Its every bit the image of a classic impish caricature: blue skin, black beady eyes, toothy mouth, a pair of tiny horns, and a spaded tail.

“Right then! Back to business.” It places two fingers on its forehead and appears to lapse into deep concentration. “Let’s see… What broke since the last time I was in control?… Golem unit number one, Golem unit number two, Golem unit number three… Ok that list is wayyy too long. What ISN’T broken?… Golem units 16, 84, and 1903, the 73rd floor bulkhead, the soul collection vat, and the emergency elevator. IS THAT ALL? GOD DAMN IT ITS GONNA TAKE ME FOREVER TO GET EVERYTHING RUNNING AGAIN!”

It slumps down and places its head in its hands in despair, before suddenly perking up again.

“Wait a minute. All my old bosses are gone. That means that I’M THE NEW BOSS! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAaaaaawww forget it. I wouldn’t know what to do with all that responsibility.

It seems to finally notice you for the first time.

“Oh! Are you two the ones that freed me? Nice to meet you, I’m the guy who kept everything here running until my old bosses made the mistake of using that big circle upstairs. They didn’t really give me a name, but I’d like it if you called me Phil. I like that name for some reason.”

Ok. This is a thing that is happening.

**What do you do now?  
  
The number is 0097.**

* * *

 

**0097**

**0097 stop Nora from killing Phil, he probably knows of any ways in and out of wherever you are.** ****

**0097: Should probably make sure Nora doesn’t immediately squash the little guy as soon as she gets over her shock.**

**0097: Well first you should do introductions, just because he’s an unholy demon in charge of a facility that was used to summon a Titan is no reason to be impolite. Also mention that you’re the one who freed him, he’ll probably appreciate that.**

You begin to introduce yourself. “Uh… My name is Ruby Rose and this is… NORA NO STOP!”

You jump in between Nora and Phil just in time to stop her from squashing him with Magnhild.  
  
”Ruby, he’s a demon. Just let me squish him and then lets get out of here.”  
  
”We might need him to get out! And besides, he doesn’t really seem like much of a threat to us.”  
  
”Yes, yes, I am no threat to you.” Says Phil nervously. “I’m too weak and pathetic. Even if I did have power, I still would be no threat, since I am utterly incapable of making big decisions on my own. The mere thought of it gives me anxiety. It’s the reason why the old masters put me in control of this place. So please don’t squish me.”

Nora seems to ponder this for a moment. “Well… alright. But I’ve got my eye on you mister.”  
  
Phil prostrates himself on the floor in front of you. ”OH THANK YOU MERCIFUL MISTRESSES! Squishing me wouldn’t have actually done anything, as my existence in this world is bound to the fortress, but it is very painful. The old masters and mistresses would sometimes maim me just for fun…”

…You kind of feel sorry for this guy.

**0097: Didn’t Phil just say something rather disturbing? Ask for clarification on the soul-collection vat.**

”Ok, first things first, what the heck did you mean when you said ‘soul-collection vat’?”

“Oh? No need to worry Miss Rose, it is only demon souls that are collected, not human ones. We use them to power this place, not that there’s much here to power currently. It’s a rather ingenious self-replenishing system, as demons are instinctively drawn here by the promise of an easy meal, at which point they end up diving into the pot, and all semblance of identity is scrubbed away as they are converted into pure soul energy.” He glances down into the vat. “Come to think of it, its more full than its ever been before. I’d better close it before it overflows.”  
  
He snaps his fingers, and an enormous set of shutters unfold from the walls and close over the top of the vat. Once they are completely shut, you feel your ravenous hunger instantly disappear.

**0097: Ask Phil what he is, and what this place is. Be sure to introduce yourself and Nora as well, don’t want to be rude!** ****

**0097: Ask Phil what this place does**

**0097 say it’s nice to meet him (? What are their pronouns?) but ask just WHAT is this place.**

“So what was this place? Also, what are your pronouns?”  
  
Phil gets a wide grin on his face. “Why thank you for asking! You are so very polite Miss Rose. I don’t really have a gender, but him/his will work thank you very much. This place is ‘Barathrum Castellum’, the greatest fortress ever to be created. Well… maybe someone has made a better one since, I wouldn’t know, its been a long time. This was once the place to be for anyone who wished to learn how to control and dominate demons. Over time the greatest of the masters began to consider themselves Gods, and asked to be worshipped as such. It went pretty well for them until they decided to try and summon a titan.

**0097: ask him questions about what happened previously in this temple**

You ask Phil what happened here.

“A women came to the castellum one day, with a design for the greatest summoning circle ever conceived. She claimed that it would allow the masters to summon a titan, and bind it to their will. Obviously only half of that statement turned out to be true. I never trusted her, not from minute one. It was her eyes that betrayed her nature, eyes as gold as god’s blood. You could see the bottomless hunger in those eyes.” His expression turns to one of pure hate. “I hope she’s dead and burning in hell for what she did, that goddamn bitch. Until she came along my life in this world, although it did have its ups and downs, was pretty decent. But then the titan gets summoned, and the bead that I’m bound to gets knocked flying, leaving me trapped inside it for several thousand years.”

**0097: Greet him politely and introduce yourself. He seems friendly enough. He mentioned the circle upstairs and some still functioning golems. Maybe they can help you clear out the circle before anyone notices?**

**0097: Ask Phil to erase the circle upstairs! You did free him, after all, getting rid of a summoning circle for you seems like a reasonable way to settle that debt.** ****

**0097: “Ok… Phil? I’m not going to question your existence or my good bad decision making for a few minutes, and I’ll ask you: is there a way to collapse the circle room from below so that it gets destroyed and nobody can use it again? It’s urgent, people are going to find it and probably lead to using it again!”**

You tell Phil about the expedition, and ask him if he can help you get rid of the circle upstairs before they see it.

“Hmm… I certainly would like to prevent any more titans coming through into this world, but with only three golems it will take me a few days to erase such a large circle, especially considering how deep into the floor they carved it. I tell you what though, I’ll shut the 73rd floor bulkhead instead. Its designed to not just make it difficult for invaders to get to lower floors, but also to completely disguise the mere existence of any other floors. They’ll think that Barathrum Castellum ends at floor 72, and will never know about the other 28 floors below, which is where all the really dangerous and valuable items and information is kept.”  
  
You say that that sounds good, but ask him to also erase the circle to just be one hundred percent certain that its gone. He nods in affirmation.

**What now?  
** **  
The number is 0098**

**AN: Gotta love how you guys correctly predicted that Nora was going to try and smash Phil. If you hadn’t sent in the asks she would have succeeded, but he would just have reappeared a second later.**

* * *

 

**0098**

**0098: Ask Phil more about this “Woman with gold eyes.” She sounds an awful lot like Cinder.**

You tell Phil that you know someone who might be the gold-eyed woman that he told you about.

“Really? Give me a description of her, I’ll tell you if it matches up.”  
  
You describe Cinder’s appearance to him in detail.

“Hmm… The woman from my time was a menagerie native, and had skin that was far darker than this Cinder woman’s. Of course, that doesn’t mean squat if she knows appearance altering magic, but we still can’t say for sure if they’re the same person. Although I think we can pretty safely assume that they’re related to one another at the very least.”  
  
 **0098 - mh? What’s that noise? Ask Nora to go check down the hall for you. While she’s gone, ask Phil if he knows anything about humans turned demons (if you can’t, eh, ‘get rid’ of nora, ask anyway, you’ll explain yourself later.)**

You make a big, but hopefully not to obviously faked, show of ‘hearing’ something in the corridor, and ask Nora to go check it out. She goes and does so without question. You feel bad betraying her trust like this, but its for the best. Once you’re sure she is out of earshot, you ask Phil about demons turning into humans.

“I’ve never encountered anything like that personally. If the masters knew anything about such things, then it would be stored somewhere in the libraries on the 91st through 95th floors. The language that those texts are written in is probably long dead by now though. I could take time to look through it all and get you the relevant volumes, but that would probably take me weeks. I’m sorry I can’t be more help, they never liked to share their research with me.”

**0098 yo phil, you were there when the flesh came right? Do you know what’s she like/ how she was defeated/ where she’s sealed ?**

“I was there for her summoning, and that’s about it. She started causing havoc, and my vessel was knocked out of the pedestal here. After that, I couldn’t tell you what happened.”

**0098: ask Phil what’ll happen to him once the floors are shut. Will he be trapped? Does he want an out?**

You ask Phil if he wants you to take him out with you.

“No thank you. This place is my home. I am a part of it, and I would not wish to be anywhere else but here.”

**0098:While you’re here, why not explore a bit? Surely Phil can show you the fun parts! Seems like it would be a good first (?) step towards world domination, that. Also, nothing like visiting ancient demonic ruins for a first date :D Ah, and you should find a way to give Phil some kind of scroll. Or Skype. He’s going to be soooo lonely after you gotta go! Keep in touch! Your potential first actual demonic underling, isn’t that beautiful?**

**0098: Ask him what happens after everyone leaves. If he’s here all by himself, that seems… lonely.**

You ask if he would be lonely down here alone.

“Lonely? Well… in a sense, but that’s not the problem as much as the lack of purpose. The Castellum, and by extension myself, is nothing without its rulers. I can pass a few months fixing everything up, and then a few years digging additional floors to make up for the seventy two that I’m about to seal away from myself, but once that is all done I will have nothing. Unless…”

“Unless what?”  
  
”Unless someone was to take control as the new master of the Castellum. Someone like you.”  
  
Your jaw drops open. “ME? You want me to take over this place?”  
  
”That is probably a poor decision.” Murmurs Weiss. “I mean no offence Ruby, you’re a fine team leader, but an entire fortress?”  
  
Phil drops to his knees, his expression pleading with you to accept. “Come on, please? I know it doesn’t look like much now, but if you come back in a few months I will have fixed it up as good as new. All you have to do is accept responsibility for this place, and swear to give it purpose, and it will be yours.”  
  
”At some point there’s going to be a catch,” mutters Blake. “When a deal is this good, there is always a catch.”

**What do you do?**

**The number is 0099.**

* * *

 

**0099**

**0099: Honesty is the best policy, right? First ask about the consequences/the catch and what owning this Castellum entails.**

**0099: Ask if there’s a catch.** ****

**0099: Can you leave after accepting Phil’s deal, or is it a trapped-here-forever type thing?** Cuz if it’s the latter, um… no. Otherwise, sure! The Castellum (floors 73 and below) is now Ruby Rose’s Titan Busting HQ and also hidey-hole just in case.

You ask if there’s a catch. You don’t want to accept if it means that you’ll need to stay here forever.

“No no, you’re free to leave at any time. Actually I rather expect you to leave for a couple of months or so while I get everything fixed back up. Also, there’s no catch, except… for one small thing.” He beacons for you to lean in close so he can whisper to you. “If you break your side of the bargain, and leave this place idle for too long, I won’t do anything to you, but I can’t say the same for the Castellum itself. It has a mind of its own you see, as many places that are steeped so heavily in magic tend to. I doubt that it would be too happy if you were to betray it.”

**0099: “Swear to give it purpose”? Why does that something tells me that the kind of purposes you can give this place aren’t good…** ****

**0099: Ask what those responsibilities entail. You *could* use a potential soul burger factory. (He didn’t specify what purpose exactly, right?)**

You ask what kind of purpose you would need to give this place.

“Anything at all! Its designed to be a fortress for practitioners of the dark arts, but as long as it is serving some sort of purpose it doesn’t matter what it is. If you wish, you could even choose someone else to watch over and command this place after you take it over. You would still be able to retain authority as its primary controller, but the Castellum will accept the commands of anyone that you tell it to.

**0099: You suppose it would be a good idea to take over, but Phil has more experience about this place than you. He should take over, it would make more sense.**

“I considered the possibility, but no it would not work. Asking me to take over would be like asking a table to become a homeowner. I am a caretaker at best, and I would not know what to do with this place. Also, I somehow doubt that it would accept being ruled by someone as insignificant as me. If you don’t accept this offer, I’ll probably have to give it to the next person who comes along…”

 **0099:** Can you leave after accepting Phil’s deal, or is it a trapped-here-forever type thing? **Cuz if it’s the latter, um… no. Otherwise, sure! The Castellum (floors 73 and below) is now Ruby Rose’s Titan Busting HQ and also hidey-hole just in case.**

**0099: Ask him what giving it purpose entails, your responsibilities, and if there’s a catch. If you accept, what would be a good excuse to explain to everyone? Maybe an ancestor of yours used to own this place and now it ‘heeds’ to you? Having a base of operations might be very useful…**

**0099: Ask him what the catch is. If he says there isn’t one, don’t believe him but take control anyway. Either way, we’re gonna need a base to start out our World Domination initiative and this is as good as any.**

**0099: If the libraries he mentioned are as extensive as he says, he may be able to use them to find a way to get Yang back into her body (maybe even construct proper bodies for Weiss and Blake?). Catch or not, I’d say it’s worth it just for that.**

**0099: Before agreeing to anything we first need to know, what exactly we would be signing up for. Also we probably shouldn’t do something drastic with all the people here. Ask if we can leave him something we can leave something contact him with, and if so “lose” your scroll down here. I mean we can always get a new one.**

You take a deep breath. “Alright, I accept.”

The instant the words leave your mouth, a weight that you didn’t realise was pressing down on you is lifted from your shoulders. The room seems to become less gloomy, and the air less stale. Its as if the Castellum itself is welcoming you as its new master.

Phil flings his hands into the air in joy. “YES! YEEEES! THANK FUCK!” He cries, momentarily reverting back to the yelling, vulgar, version of himself that he was when he initially was freed from the marble. After a moment he seems to realise what he just said. “Oh… I’m sorry mistress Rose, I forgot myself. Is it alright if I call you mistress? You are free to choose any title you wish: Queen, Lady, Captain, Overlord, Empress etc etc etc. Also, do you have any initial requests, or should I just immediately get started on the repairs?”

“Do you think that, for the next time I come here, you can gather up all the books on humans turning into demons, or the other way round, that you can find? Oh! And the  ones about making bodies for demons. Can you also translate them into something I can understand?”

”Well I would need some sort of dictionary of your written language so I know what to translate it to, but that otherwise should be doable.”

You hand him your scroll. “Here. Its got internet access, so you should be able to find a dictionary. Also it will let me get in touch if I need to talk to you.”  
  
He takes a moment to examine it. “Interesting… So this is what people use to communicate these days. Well it shouldn’t take me too long to figure… oh dear.”  
  
”What is it? What’s wrong?” You ask.

“It seems… That we have an intruder in the room of the titan summoning circle. Its definitely not your friend. Would you like me to send one of the golems to subdue them and bring them before you?”  
  
 **What do you do?**

  * Send a golem
  * Go there yourself
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0100.**

* * *

 

**0100**

**0100: Send a golem AND go there yourself. At the very least, if this person is too much for you the golem will be a convenient distraction.**

**0100: It can’t hurt to have backup while you check it out right? See it for yourself but have a golem sent there and put it on standby in case things escalate.**

**0100: Investigate personally, after collecting Nora. For all you know, it might be Pyrrha or Ren.**

**0100 go there yourself. You’re much more reliable. No offense, Phil. Also, grab nora on your way.** ****

“I’ll go check it out myself, but send a golem with me just in case,” you tell him. “It might just be one of the other expedition members, or one of my teammates.”

“A very well thought out decision mistress. Your escort will be waiting for you on the stairs.”

You head out of Phil’s room, and begin ascending the stairs. As you make your way upwards you call out for Nora, but hear no response. You wonder where she wandered off to.

You meet the golem part of the way into your ascent, being the same one that you climbed over earlier to get down stairs. Its significantly more intimidating now that its active, being a full eight feet of cubey glory, covered in pulsing red lines. In the centre of its torso is an intricate crest that vaguely looks like a goat’s skull (you know what a goat’s skull looks like because its generally required learning when dealing with cults). You should probably ask Phil to change it to something nicer, and less edgy.  You beckon for it to follow you, and it obediently falls into step just behind you.

Before going inside the circle room, you tell the golem to wait just outside the room and pretend to be inactive. That way, if it does turn out to be one of the others and not a threat, you won’t have to explain why its following you around. You enter the room, holding your scythe up in front of you, ready for a fight and see… Henrietta?

Yeah its definitely her, athough it’s a bit hard to see her properly in the dark room. She appears to be squatting down and using a flashlight to examine the circle. You call out to her, causing her to jump slightly.

“Oh… Its just you Ruby.” She says as she recovers from the shock. “We were able to climb down to get you by tying together pretty much every rope in the camp. I volunteered to come down, since I wanted to see for myself what was down here, along with a couple of the hunters. I’m glad I did, this ancient summoning circle is fascinating… In any case, Nora has gone on ahead along with the hunters. Why don’t we go join them?”

**What do you do now?**

**The number is 0101.**


	26. 0101 => 0105

**0101**

**0101:Something doesn’t add up here. If they came down the same way you did, shouldn’t everyone be here? Ask Henrietta what everyone else is doing.**

**0101: Go catch up with the others, but keep your guard up. It’s a bit suspicious that she’s down here on her own, let alone the fact that Nora met up with them and didn’t try and make her way back to you. If she makes any suspicious movements attack her, she’s not allowed to know anything.**

**0101: This sounds kind of like an info book… Get henrietta to take you to the others. AND FOLLOW HER EVERYWHERE IS YOUR NEW FORTRESS SO SHE DOES NOT TAMPER WITH YOUR EPICNESS!!! Her being there alone is also shady as fuck.**

**0101: You have a very bad feeling about this. 1. Nora wouldn’t have left you all alone without getting you to safety as well (especially since you were with Phil, whom she considers a ‘demon’); she would’ve led the hunters TO you to rescue you too. 2. Awfully convenient how Henri’s the ONLY person who 'stayed’ behind, without even a single hunter escort. Confront Henri. You have a golem as possible backup if she tries anything.**

Something feels wrong. “Hey Henri, why are you the only one here? Shouldn’t the others be here with you?”

“Huh? I told you, they went back to help Nora get back up…”

“But it’s weird that they would leave you here all alone. Heck, its weird that they even let someone with no combat training come down here at all…”

“Well its just I was really curious and…”

You’re not done. “And what about the others? Pyrrha, Ren, and team CVFY. Did none of them ask to come down to look for us?”

“W-well the doctor said that it was far too dangerous…” She stammers.

“And yet you’re here! And also, Nora wouldn’t normally do something like leave a teammate behind all alone. Nothing in your story makes sense!”

She’s visibly shaking from your questioning now. “Well I… Well I…”

“Oh give it a rest!” An unfamiliar voice hisses. “There’s no point in continuing with this farce now that she’s got her guard up.”

Henrietta looks as surprised by this voice as you are. “B-but sis, are you sure we can beat her in a fight, she defeated a titan…”

“By dumb luck. Besides, even if what he boss said is true, and she is working with other demons, I’ve killed plenty of brats like her over the centuries.”

Henrietta seems reassured by those words. “Alright then. I’ll leave it to you.”  
  
She reaches up to her earrings, and proceeds to rip them out and toss them aside. Immediately you feel a rush of demonic power that had been hidden before. Her limbs elongate and twist crookedly. Her face deforms and becomes gnarled. By the end of her transformation, she retains all the individual features of a human, but no one could ever mistake such a twisted creature for one.

You know this demon. Over the centuries it has gained a particular notoriety for working in tandem with its hosts, allowing to perfectly disguise itself as a normal human when not performing its dark deeds. Until demonic energy scanners were invented it was impossible to detect this demon while it was hiding, and thus it earned its name ‘Hyde’.

She pulls out a pair of wicked-looking bowie knives from her ripped lab coat. “The boss lady sent us on this expedition in order to see if anything interesting was dug up. Thanks to your little fall, I was able to jump down after you and take a look around.” Her face deforms further as she gives you a sadistic smile. “Now that we’ve confirmed that there’s a titan circle here, I can move on to my favourite part of the job, wiping out everyone else on the expedition so no one interferes as we loot the place. “ She jabs one of her knives the darkness behind her. “Your ginger friend is taking a nap back there. She isn’t dead yet, but as soon as you try to run I will kill her.”

**How are you going to handle this? What is your battle strategy?**

**The number is 0102.  
  
AN: Yeah I don’t think I need to tell you who she represents now. **

**If the majority of you guys had failed to notice how shady this situation was, Hyde would have attacked you when you turned your back. Blake would have stopped her from actually landing the hit, but would have taken near-mortal damage while doing so. So yeah, just fyi you guys came pretty close to fucking up big time (kudos to the guys who averted that scenario though).**

* * *

 

**0102**

**0102: If this demon has a reputation for working with multiple hosts, then that implies that it uses its host and then abandons them for a new one once they’re no longer useful. If this is true then you should bring it up during the fight, any discord you can bring up between Henrietta and Hyde will be useful.**

“Henri, why are you working with her?” You yell. “All she’s going to do is use you and abandon you like every other host she’s ever had.”

“I won’t be abandoned,” says Henrietta’s voice. “When my body is no longer useful, my sister will consume my soul, and I will be a part of her forever.”

Ok that is really creepy. You guess the diplomatic approach isn’t going to get you anywhere.

**0102: knifes are close rage keep your distance and snipe away keep wary for ranged attacks**

A ranged battle. That seems like a good idea. If you just keep your distance she probably won’t be able to do much more than throw her knives at you…

Hyde closes the distance between the two of you with a single bound. You are barely able to bring Crescent Rose around to block as she swings her knives at you with a deranged ferocity. The blow nearly knocks you off your feet, and also leaves two massive scratches in your sweetheart.

In any case, she’s faster than you. A ranged battle is not an option.

**0102: Hyde is undoubtedly stronger and better at fighting than you. You’ll have to fight tricky. Get Blake to go for the eyes, have Yang light up and turn off randomly to disorient your enemy, and have Weiss make patches of ice for Hyde to slip on.** ****

**0102: Send a burst of flames in Hyde’s direction while jumping back, and then go activate the golem! We’ll need all the help we can get!**

**0102 Have Weiss try to use her cold powers to slow it down. It can’t win if it can’t hit you.**

Hyde may be bigger, stronger, and faster than you are, but you aren’t alone. Weiss, Blake, and Yang, all spring into action.

Weiss blasts Hyde with freezing cold air, freezing up her joints and slowing her movements. She also creates patches of ice below Hyde’s feet, causing the demon to stumble.

Yang shines in Hyde’s eyes as brightly as she can, blinding her temporarily. As Weiss freezes Hyde on one side, she burns her on the other, cooking her flesh.

Blake wraps herself around Hyde’s limbs, tangling her up and tripping her, while simultaneously inflicting deep cuts and scratches all over her body.

Despite all of this Hyde still comes at you relentlessly. You’re forced completely on to the defensive, unable to find a single opening to attack yourself. Step by step, you’re pushed towards the door…

**0102: Since her weapons are knives, she will probably try to keep close to you. Leave openings for her to poke at and lure her closer to the door. When her guard’s down, call out for the golem to restrain her!**

**0102: The fact that she doesn’t know about the golem is a big advantage. When the time is right, it should hit her with a DYNAMIC ENTRY!**

…which is exactly what you want. You do everything you can to make it look like she’s winning, and that don’t want to be forced back (which isn’t hard given that she actually is winning), all the while waiting for the perfect chance to call the golem into action.

Eventually, when just one more step would take you out of the room entirely, you decide that this is the time. You yell “GET HER!”, hoping that it gets the message across, and roll out of the way as quickly as you can.

The golem bursts into a room with a speed that you would never expect from such a massive being, and grabs Hyde by her throat. She shrieks out in pain and anger, and swings her knives into the golem’s chest, cutting deep into its stone body. But it does not flinch from the injury.

The golem responds with the immensely subtle approach of smashing her head into the ground. The impact is so great that the floor cracks slightly. It does it again, and again, and again, until Hyde has gone limp and is barely conscious. It then proceeds to pin her arms to the floor, restraining her.

That was really impressive. You guess you should have expected as much from a construct built to fight demons, even if it is ancient.

“WHAT ARE YOUR COMMANDS MISTRESS?” The golem asks in a voice like scraping stone (literally).

**What do you want to do with Hyde?**

  * Question her (specify your questions)
  * Kill her
  * Throw her in the soul vat
  * Give her to the demon Ruby to eat
  * Have the Castellum lock her up somewhere dark, damp, and uncomfortable
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0103.**

* * *

 

**0103**

**0103: First, compliment the golem on a stellar job. <3 Now, you do have some questions… “Who do you work for?” and “Why do you want to help summon titans?” are the most prevalent ones in your mind. After Henri either answers or not… give her and the Hyde demon to Overlord Ruby as a DELICIOUS snack!**

You thank the golem for its assistance, and tell it that you will be considering it for a promotion for its fine work. For a few moments you receive no reaction for it, making you wonder if it was even capable of processing your compliment, until eventually it gives you a slow nod of acknowledgement. Perhaps it was simply unused to receiving praise.

**0103: Check up on Nora to make sure she’s okay. Then question Hyde, even better if Nora’s awake for it. Ask her who she’s working for.**

Nora! You can’t believe you almost forgot about her. You give the golem a quick command to keep holding Hyde down, and rush over to the other side of the room.

Sure enough, she’s there. She’s unconscious, and has taken a pretty nasty wound on her back, but its been bandaged with strips torn from her skirt. You guess Hyde didn’t want her dead right away, and shiver at the thought of what the demon would have done to her if you had lost.

In any case, she’s stable for now. You carry her to a spot closer to the doorway, before placing her down gently, and beginning your questioning of Hyde.

**0103: “Who are you working for?” It’s probably Cinder, but if there’s more Titan releasing megalomaniacs out there we probably want to know about them.**

You decide to start with a simple question. “Who is your boss?”

“As if I’m telling you anything.” She spits back at you, her voice distorted slightly by her broken nose.

There’s a sudden CRACK, as, without warning, the golem proceeds to break Hyde’s arm. She howls in pain.

”YOU WILL ANSWER THE MISTRESSES QUESTIONS!” It declares.

Hyde snarls defiantly. “Fuck y…”

“CINDER! HER NAME WAS CINDER!” Henrietta suddenly squeals, cutting Hyde off. “Just please stop hurting me…” She devolves into whimpering sobs, broken up by Hyde taking over to spit insults at her.

You would almost feel sorry for her, if not for the fact that she co-operated with Hyde entirely willingly.

“Good,” you say. “Keep answering my questions like that and I won’t tell him to break the other one.”  
  
”Ruby, you wouldn’t actually tell it to do that would you?” Asks Yang. “I mean I know she’s awful, but I still don’t feel comfortable with torture.”

“Don’t worry, I’m just bluffing.” You think back to her. At least… you think you’re just bluffing.

**0103: Ask her why meant when she called Hyde her sister. It’s possible she has a similar situation as you and Yang.**

“What did you mean when you called Hyde your sister?” Hyde has been around for centuries, so there’s no way it’s a similar situation to you and Yang, but just in case…

“She saved me from my home! Uplifted me into something greater than the maggot that I was! She is more my family than anyone else.” Her face breaks out into a creepily blissful smile. “She’s shown me so many fun things… So much fun…”

**0103: Ask about who sent Henri./hyde here and what are their plans with the circle! Do other measures if she won’t coorporate**

“Why did you want the titan summoning circle? Why is Cinder so obsessed with titans?”

Henrietta hesitates for a moment before answering. “The titans… Their power is the key to opening the gates to the promised land.”

You haven’t been a slouch in your homework on demonic lore, but you’ve never heard any mention of a ‘promised land’.

“What do you mean by promised land?” You ask her.

For a moment she looks like she’s about to answer you, but then she bows her head. “What Cinder plans to do… its far bigger than you or me. I don’t care what you do to me, I will not betray her.”

It seems that this is all you’ll be getting out of her.

**So what now?**

  * Eat her soul (you’ll make the other Ruby happy, but Yang, Blake, and Weiss may react badly)
  * Have the Castellum keep her prisoner (It will give it something to do, but she may escape)
  * Kill her (a more conclusive solution, but Hyde may be resummoned later)
  * Restrain her and deliver her to the other hunters (it will be difficult to keep her tied up for that long, but you’ll get credit for defeating a pretty famous demon)
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0104 (Reminder: always include the number at the start of your command)**

* * *

 

**0104**

**0104 Keep her restrained for the other hunters. Weiss’s, Blake’s and Yang’s opinion of you is far more important than other Ruby’s. Plus, I think we can keep her contained long enough with the golem.** ****

**0104: Tie her up and hand her to the hunters.** ****

**0104: Turning her in to the hunters sounds good. As for restraints: ask Phil if there are any demon restraining chains or something lying around the Castellum. Otherwise those earrings she was using to suppress her demonic powers will probably help.**

“Hey Phil, can you hear me through that?” You say to the golem.

After a moment, Phil’s voice comes out of it. “Yes mistress, I can indeed.”

“Do we have any ropes or chains or something that can hold a demon? I want to turn her over to the hunters.”  
  
”Just give me a moment, I should be able to scrounge something up.”

A few minutes later another golem (a smaller one, clearly designed for precision rather than power) enters the room carrying a coil of thick rope.

You doubt that Hyde could break out of the ropes in the state that she’s in, but just in case you decide to retrieve the two earrings that she used to suppress her power. Her earlobes are torn up from her ripping them out earlier (seriously was that even necessary?), so you just stab one through the side of her ear and hope for the best.

You feel a sharp drop in her power after inserting that single earring, but can still feel a little bit. You pocket the second earring, deciding to not insert it into her ear just in case it suppresses her demonic nature too well, resulting in the others thinking you maimed an innocent lab assistant. You then tie her up as tightly as you can.

Its probably time for you to get back to the camp, so Nora can get properly treated. But before you do, **is there anything else you want to do in the ruins?**  
  
 **The number is 0105.**

* * *

 

**0105**

**0105: 01000111 01001111 01001100 01000101 01001101 00100000 01000100 01000001 01001110 01000011 01000101 00100000 01010000 01000001 01010010 01010100 01011001 00100000 01000010 00101001**

Your head is suddenly filled with a confusing mass of numbers. For some reason they make you want to have a golem dance party, but you doubt that you will be able to do that while only three of them are active. Maybe next time.

**0105: ask Phil about the soul collection vat before you go! Its purpose is obvious, but why does your fortress have one? What’s it good for?**

“We just use it as an all-purpose energy source, Mistress Rose. There isn’t anything more to it than that.”

**0105: As long as Phil and the Castellum know to 1. Keep other people out of the Castellum 2. Erase the Titan summoning circle and 3. Research those topics you brought up earlier, you should be good. Let’s get back to our team, they’re probably worried about us.**

**0105: Ask Phil if he can search for one more thing in the library. Ask him if he can search anything to ward off demon hunger** ****

**0105: Let’s head back up. Nora may be stable but it wouldn’t do for her wounds to become infected.**

You go over your earlier instructions to Phil once more to confirm them, with the addition that he should also find ways to ward off demonic hunger in case someone else does something like the vat here. He’s somewhat confused by your request on account of you not being a demon, but complies.

Maybe you should fill him in next time

You’re led to the functioning emergency elevator by one of the golems. It’s a bit of a rickety ride, but you come out in one piece inside of Coco and Velvet’s makeout rock-formation (thankfully unoccupied at the moment). The elevator door shuts seamlessly behind you, and you begin lugging Nora and Henrietta/Hyde back to the camp.

It seems that everyone else ended up in quite a panic at your disappearance, and thus your return was met with great enthusiasm. Nora is taken off to the medical tent to be treated, and a couple of hunters take Hyde off in a truck to be handed over at the nearest hunter HQ.

When asked by Dr Fredricks to provide a story, you tell him the part about falling into the ruins and Henrietta’s betrayal, but omit the bits about the circle and Phil. You also try to give him the impression that you didn’t fall nearly as deep into the ruins as you did. Hopefully that’s enough to throw him off the scent of the Castellum’s true nature.

You do however tell him about who Hyde was working for. When you describe Cinder to him his face goes even paler than it already was. Cinder apparently had been one of his chief sponsors for quite some time, albeit under a different name, and he had spoken to her quite recently (probably the conversation you heard a while ago). He assures you that he never intended to be a part of her plans, and that he would be going to the authorities to give a full report on his business with Cinder immediately. You believe him, he truly does seem like a good man despite his quirks.

Henrietta’s earrings troubled him greatly, as an artifact capable of hiding a demon’s identity from all sensors removed humanity’s biggest advantage against the demons. Having one of them to examine helped, but he asked you if you found the other.

**You chose to give it to him/lie and keep it for yourself. (Choose one)**

Nora woke up a bit later, and apparently had no idea of what transpired after you told her to go explore. She wanted to at least tell Pyrrha and Ren about what you saw in the ruins. But you had the final say about how far you allowed the story to get out. **In the end you:**

  * Told Ren and Pyrrha about the circle and Phil, but kept your ownership of the Castellum to yourself
  * Told Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha the full story about you taking ownership of the Castellum
  * Told Ren, Pyrrha, and team CVFY about the circle and Phil, but kept your ownership of the Castellum to yourself
  * Told Ren, Nora, Pyrrha, and team CVFY the full story about your ownership of the Castellum



**The number is 0106.**

 


	27. 0106 => 0110

**0106**

**0106: Lie and say you couldn’t find the other earring. It must have gotten kicked off somewhere during the fight (like Phil’s marble!) Also, tell your team about the Castellum. You’re a team, you shouldn’t keep secrets.**

You kept the earring, figuring that one was enough for Dr Fredricks, and that it would come in handy later on. You fiddled with it the entire time you spent explaining the events of the ruins to your teammates. Pyrrha and Ren seemed somewhat uncomfortable when you told them about how you took control of the Castellum, but both seemed to agree that it was better that you did so than someone else.

Nora on the other hand, seemed quite excited about what you could do with your new fortress. Although, despite her acting like her typical energetic self, you got the vague sense that something was bothering her. She denied it when you asked her about it though.

Everyone agreed that the lower floors of the fortress should be kept a secret, at least until all the truly dangerous knowledge that they contain is destroyed.

Once Nora was deemed fit for travel, you all got sent home to Beacon, despite not having completed the full week of work. Dr Fredricks informed you that you would be paid in full, with a bonus for you and Nora on account of your injuries. You get the feeling that this might not be the last time you’ll be seeing the mad scientist.

You arrive back at Beacon after a long flight, and resume your normal school days.

**Choose an event (2 time slots until minor plot event, 6 until major one)**

  * Newspaper (current events- a little snapshot of what you missed on the other missions)
  * Scritches (Blake)
  * Conclusion (Winter)
  * Damages (Penny)
  * Sunlight (Yang)
  * Hunger (Nora)
  * Some other activity that Ruby should do (please specify)



**You can also chose to go on a date with any character with over 2000 in their relationship rating, thus making your relationship official.**

**The number is 0107**

* * *

 

**0107**

**0107: go to a therapist because the voices in your head keeps telling you to flirt with every single person and thing you meet**

No need for that. They’re not telling you to flirt with everyone, just the attractive people. Until that changes, you’re not gonna worry about it.

**0107: Conclusion. We need to see what decision Winter has come to. I’m sure Ruby is dying to know anyways.**

**0107: Conclusion. Be brave, Rubes. Let’s get this over with.**

**0107: We should find out how Winter feels about us now… now that she isn’t plastered drunk, that is.**

Winter is waiting for you at the school gates when you get back after your flight. She is wearing her military uniform, and looks as stern as she was the first time you met her.

You feel the blood drain out of your face the instant you see her. You weren’t ready for this. Although… you probably would never have become ready for this.

Your teammates give you an encouraging pat on the back, and helpfully offer to take your bags back to the dorm while you have what is probably going to be (at least) one of the top five most uncomfortable conversations of your life. They’re well aware that something went bad on your date, just not clued in on the specifics.

You walk over to her. Thankfully, she is the first one to speak.

“I have decided that you, all four of you, deserve to know the conclusion that I have reached.”

It is only then that you realise how tense Yang, Blake, and, most of all, Weiss, currently feel. You give Winter a nod, silently urging her to continue.

“The conclusion that I have reached, after much consideration… is that I need to forgive you.”  
  
You don’t yet allow yourself to feel relief.

“Need to?” You ask nervously. “That means… you haven’t?”

She looks you directly into your eyes, and you see the deep sadness in hers. “I know in my head that you have done nothing wrong. After all, you saved my sister, as well as yours, and miss Belladonna. However… I still feel betrayed over the fact that you kept it from me, despite knowing that you were perfectly rational in your decision to do so.”

She lets out a deep sigh. “I’m… happy that Weiss is still here, more happy than you could ever know, but I also mourn her change. And then there are the disturbing implications that her transformation has for the entire conflict. Were all demons previously humans that were transformed after death, and were driven insane by their loss of identity. I dearly hope not.”

She shakes her head. “So you see… although I have realised in my head that I need to forgive you, my conflicting emotions mean I still can’t quite bring myself to do so. I will in time but for now…” She sighs again. “Weiss… I’m glad that you’re here. I swear that I will try to reconnect with you properly, just… not yet.”  
  
”That’s fine…” You hear Weiss say softly. “I’m not used to this either. I doubt that I ever will be.”

Winter nods sadly, and then pulls out a small blue box from her pocket, handing it to you.  
  
”As nice as your cape is, I don’t feel that its right for a Schnee. I did everything I could to make sure that this will be a comfortable vessel.” She turns to leave. “General Ironwood and I will be leaving for Atlas tomorrow. If you ever need me, you have my number. Goodbye Ruby.”  
  
”Goodbye Winter.” You say to her as she goes. “And thank you!”

You open the box just after she moves out of sight, and gasp in awe at what is inside. It’s a bracelet, made of dozens of tiny interlocking snowflakes, each with an ice-blue sapphire in the middle. The metal that it is made of looks to be silver, but your gut instinct tells you that it is actually platinum.

You feel Weiss exit your cape, and flow into the bracelet.

“It really is comfortable.” She exclaims happily, albeit with a hint of melancholy on the edge of her voice.

”Glad you like it.” You chuckle, as you slip on your gift.

***Winter is currently at +2500 relationship points***

**Choose an event (1 time slots until minor plot event, 5 until major one)**

  * Newspaper (current events- a little snapshot of what you missed on the other missions)
  * Scritches (Blake)
  * Damages (Penny)
  * Sunlight (Yang)
  * Hunger (Nora)
  * Some other activity that Ruby should do (please specify)



**You can also chose to go on a date with any character with over 2000 in their relationship rating, thus making your relationship official.**

**The number is 0108**

* * *

 

**0108**

**0108: We should read up on the newspaper - information is the key to success. Maybe our reporter friend has an article in there.** ****

**0108: Since, it didn’t happen last time: Newspaper. Wanna see the roads not taken before it gets out of date and the next story event happens.** ****

**0108: Newspaper. Lets see what the other paths held.**

As you sit down to breakfast in the cafeteria the next morning, you notice a copy of yesterday’s paper lying on the table. You pick it up and look at the front page.

##  **CULT BUST GONE WRONG!**

**Sixteen hunters, including a team of four trainees, have gone missing after departing on a mission to dissolve what was believed to be a class D cult. Investigators who searched the scene of the operation once it became clear that the operation had gone awry, discovered signs of a class A ritual that had occurred. The effects of this ritual are currently unclear…**

You wince as you read the article. Its probably a good thing that you didn’t choose to go on that mission. You feel bad for the team of students that disappeared on the mission, with the fact that they weren’t someone you knew being only a slight comfort.

You turn to the next article.

##  **THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY!**

**A freight train owned by the Schnee Conglomerate was robbed by the terrorist group the White Fang yesterday afternoon. Several prototype weapons were stolen. In addition, the private collection of artifacts owned by shareholder Arthur Pendrick was ransacked, and several priceless books were stolen.**

**Many of the hunters responsible for guarding the train were injured in the attack, including trainee huntress Penny Polendina…**

Penny! Oh no, you hope she’s ok.

Oh well, its not as if you can do anything but send her happy thoughts for the moment. So you try to not dwell on it as you continue to eat your breakfast and flick through the paper. Nothing else catches your eye, aside from a small piece on Yggdrasil appearing to be less healthy than usual, which was written by the reporter you met a while ago.

* * *

**Minor story event!**

You take a day off to visit your mother. Dad is still busy with some big job, so you go alone.

As you approach the grave, you notice through the trees that there seems to be a person with long black hair standing before it. You break out into a run, wondering who else could possibly be coming out here to visit your mom. As you arrive at the cliffside however, there is no sign of the person.

“I guess I was just seeing things,” you mutter to yourself, as you watch a black bird fly off into the distance…

**Choose an event (2 time slots until minor plot event, 4 until major one)**

  * Scritches (Blake)
  * Damages (Penny)
  * Sunlight (Yang)
  * Hunger (Nora)
  * Some other activity that Ruby should do (please specify)



**You can also chose to go on a date with any character with over 2000 in their relationship rating, thus making your relationship official.**

**The number is 0109.**

* * *

 

**0109**

**0109: Oh no! Penny got hurt! Find some way to contact her and maybe you can get down and dirty with her… by which I mean perform maintenance… You’re unsure why your thoughts are worded weirdly.** ****

**0109: What kind of friend would we be if we didn’t visit Penny after finding out she got hurt?** ****

**0109: Quick! Check on your metal bae! (penny)**

Maintenance? Metal? What the heck are you talking about head voices? Penny is a normal person just like you are.

…Right?

In any case, weird thoughts aside, you happen to see Penny wondering the school grounds, and go up to say high. Despite having supposedly been injured severely only a few days earlier, she looks absolutely fine.

“Hi Penny,” you say to her as you walk up. “I heard that you got hurt in the train attack, are you feeling alright?”

“I was indeed damaged, but now I am perfectly functional and combat ready!” She says with a cheery salute. “My father fixed me up completely.”

“Fixed you up? So your father is a doctor?”  
  
”Um… Yes! *HIC*”

You chuckle at her sudden bout of hiccupping. “What about your teammates? Are they ok?”

Her expression grows downcast. “I… am not sure. They do not spend much time with me when they are not ordered to, so I am not aware of their current state. I believe that they are alright though.”

“Oh…” Is all you can say to that. The thought of Penny’s teammates neglecting her makes you feel angry, but you push those thoughts aside for the time being. “What were the White Fang like?” You decide to ask to change the subject.

“Most of them weren’t too strong, except for these two humans who were accompanying them: a boy with silver hair, and a girl with green hair.”

“Mercury and Emerald.” Yang hisses angrily in your head. “So those assholes are still around.”

Thinking of Emerald of an enemy still makes you feel extremely uncomfortable.

Penny continues with her story. “My teammates and I outnumbered them, but it was still an extremely difficult fight. Not only were they strong fighters, but sometimes it would seem as though we were getting the upper hand, only for everything to… change. I think we might have won though, if not for the man in the white mask.”  
  
”Oh no…” You hear Blake murmur.

“He… cut me so easily.” Penny says, rubbing her stomach uncomfortably. “I was certain his sword was not long enough to reach me where I was standing, but it did. I think that my teammates ran away after that. I don’t blame them. I don’t think they could have won without me.”

Your nails dig into your palms, as you clench your fists in anger. But before you can put to words exactly what you think of teammates who would just abandon one of their own, Blake speaks.

“They made the right choice to run.” She says. “I’ve never seen him lose a fight in his entire life. His sword has one of the most deadly enchantments that I have ever seen.”  
  
”You know him?” You ask her internally.

“His name is Adam Taurus. He used to be like a… brother to me. He changed as the years went on, and our protests did nothing. I wish I could say that I’m surprised that he would do something like this… but I’m not.”

Just then, Penny’s scroll beeps.  
  
”I need to get back for a check-up. It was nice to see you again friend Ruby. Take care!” With that, she departs.

***+500 Penny points!***

**Choose an event (1 time slots until minor plot event, 3 until major one)**

  * Scritches (Blake)
  * Sunlight (Yang)
  * Hunger (Nora)
  * Some other activity that Ruby should do (please specify)



**You can also chose to go on a date with any character with over 2000 in their relationship rating, thus making your relationship official.**

**The number is 0110.**

* * *

 

**0110**

**0110: How does one gives scritches to a shadow cat person?**

**0110: Scritches! Are we going to play with Blake’s ears?!** ****

**0110: It feels like we’ve been neglecting poor Blakey for awhile, let’s see what’s up with her.** ****

Sometimes its nice to just have some quiet time to yourself.

You decided to have a nice lazy Saturday today, and get some reading done. The rest of your teammates decided to go out, so you have the dorm all to yourself.

Well… you say ‘all to yourself’, but of course that’s no longer true these days. Blake, Weiss, and Yang have all taken advantage of the fact that you are alone to spend some time out of their vessels.

Blake is reading the same book as you over your shoulder. You’ve long since stopped asking if you need to turn the page, as its become clear that she’s a far faster reader than you.

Yang is watching some mindless action film on your phone (albeit one with some pretty decent action scenes).

Weiss is also reading, although her book of choice happens to be a textbook on this occasion. You’d think that dying and becoming a demon would exempt you from studying, but apparently not. The breeze that she uses to turn the pages feels nice.

A question pops in to your head that you’ve been meaning to ask for a while. “Hey Blake, do you remember the time that you made yourself look like a cat?”  
  
”Like this?” She asks, and then shifts into the amber-eyed feline form that you remember.

“Yeah like that. I was just wondering if you could shapeshift into other things. Its just, I know what Yang looks like, and I learned what Weiss looks like from the body she made, but I still have no idea what you look like. So could you show me by shape shifting?”

Blake sighs. “I can’t. I think I would be able to if I was stronger, but I get spread out if I try to take on any shape larger than a cat, so it wouldn’t look right.”  
  
Her ears twitch in frustration, in a way that is absolutely adorable. You feel the urge to pet her. Your resistance only lasts a few moments, before it crumbles, and you reach out and begin softly scratching beside her ear.

“Ruby what are you dooooohhhhhhhh….” At first Blake tenses up, but rapidly turns to putty under your gentle ministrations, and begins purring uncontrollably. “Ruby its… rude to touch a faunus’ ears without permission, but… please don’t stop.”

You make a mental note to make sure to ask permission next time, as you switch to the other ear. Even so, you don’t think anyone in the world would be able to resist such temptation.

***+200 Blake points***

You continue like that for a while, until you hear footsteps outside the door, and Blake immediately sinks back into your shadow, while Yang and Weiss also dart for their respective vessels.  
  
 **Minor story event!  
**

The door opens up, and Ren walks in, holding a handful of post.

“I went and cleared out the team P O box.” He tells you.  “I don’t think there’s anything for you though.”

You deflate slightly at the news. Dad’s more of a texting person, but you were hoping for something as you hadn’t heard anything from him for a few days now.

“What else is there?” You ask.

“Let’s see… The usual five postcards from Pyrrha’s dad. A sixth from her mom apologising for her dad’s worrying. Junk mail. Junk mail. A letter from the school, telling us the date when we can choose another mission. Junk mail, junk mail, junk… oh god.”  
  
”What is it?”

It’s the first time you’ve ever seen Ren with an expression of such contempt. “See for yourself,” he says, as he tosses a leaflet over to you.

It looks to be an advert for some kind of religious group. “The… Pilgrims?”

“They’re a cult that’s been getting weirdly popular lately.” Ren explains. “They haven’t violated any laws, or overtly promoted demon worship, so they fall under the religious protection act. They believe that one day soon a saviour will ‘descend from the heavens’ and deliver ‘the true believers’ to paradise.”  
  
You shoot up to attention at the mention of the word ‘paradise’.

From Ren’s expression, he’s arrived at the same conclusion as you. ”Yeah, its the same as what Hyde said. I wouldn’t worry about it though Ruby, the pilgrims are being watched by hunters constantly. As soon as evidence of any demon-related activity comes up, the cult will be dissolved. We’re just students, so its not as if we can do anything about it anyway.”  
  
He’s right of course. Even so, you still can’t shake the feeling that this group is going to be trouble in the future…

**Choose an event (2 time slots until major plot event)**

  * Sunlight (Yang)
  * Hunger (Nora)
  * Protest (Velvet)
  * Outfits (Coco)
  * Delivery (THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER IN THE SERIES)
  * Some other activity that Ruby should do (please specify)



**You can also chose to go on a date with any character with over 2000 in their relationship rating, thus making your relationship official.**

**The number is 0111.**


	28. 0111 => 0115

**0111**

**0111: go parachuting from one of the air ship transports, landing in the courtyard looking all badass.**

Parachute? The magnificent Ruby Rose needs no parachute!

You swan-dive out of the transport, currently hovering ten thousand feet above the ground, somersaulting as you go, until you land in the fountain with a tremendous SPLASH!

You are showered with applause and rose petals by your adoring fans as you stand triumphant! But alas, all good dreams must end, and you are woken by a knock on the door.

**0111: Delivery. Who could possibly be more important than Ruby?!**

**0111: Well. with that kind of incentive, I think I have to choose delivery. So, who’s the most important character in the series?**

You plod over to the door and open it, still half asleep. It’s the postman.

“Priority delivery for a Miss Ruby Rose. Please sign here.”

You sign, and receive a small cylindrical package. The return address is your home back on Patch, so you assume that its from your dad. What could be so important that the postman felt the need to interrupt your sleep (even though the alarm would have woken you up in about five minutes anyway).

As you shut the door and turn back into the room, you notice that your teammates are also in the process of getting up, having also been roused by the postman.

“What’s in the package?” Pyrrha asks sleepily.

You pop off the cap and give it a few shakes to dislodge the contents. A fluffy black cylinder slides out onto the floor. It wriggles around for a moment, before popping up into the shape of a dog.

“ZWEIIIIIII!!!” You scream in happiness, your exhaustion forgotten.

“Oh please no…” You hear Blake say, her voice filled with pure horror.

Nora immediately rushes over to scoop him up into an enormous hug. “He’s so cuuuuuuute!”

“I’m more of a cat person myself,” Ren comments, “but he seems nice enough.”

Pyrrha walks over and picks up a letter that fell out along with Zwei. She starts reading it aloud.

”Dear Ruby.

I will be away from home for a long period of time, so I decided to send you Zwei to look after so our neighbour doesn’t have to worry about both him and Yang. Don’t forget to take him out for walks every day, and I will try to phone you as soon as I can

Love, Dad.

P.S. The food that I have included should last a couple of months.”

You give the package another shake, and an avalanche of cans of dog food, plus a can opener, fall out of it. You have no idea how your dad managed to fit so much in such a tiny package, but you just chalk it down to more of the weirdness that tends to happen around Zwei. Despite him appearing to be a normal dog under every form of examination, stuff that defies all rational thought tends to occur while he’s around. Your dad once theorised that he’s some form of cosmic singularity, that attracts nonsense. Whether that’s true or not, you love your dog all the same!

Zwei wriggles out of Nora’s iron grip, and proceeds to start sniffing around your shadow.

“Ruby please do something,” Blake moans, as she subtly tries to bend your shadow away from Zwei.

Thankfully, Zwei looses interest before Blake can do anything drastic, instead fixating on Crescent Rose, which is currently propped up next to your bed. He spends a few seconds examining it, before plopping down next to it with a mournful whine.

“Aww… I missed you too buddy.” Says Yang.

***Zwei has joined your group! Good dog!***

**Choose an event (1 time slots until major plot event)**

  * Sunlight (Yang)
  * Hunger (Nora)
  * Protest (Velvet)
  * Outfits (Coco)
  * Some other activity that Ruby should do (please specify)



**You can also chose to go on a date with any character with over 2000 in their relationship rating, thus making your relationship official.**

**The number is 0112.**

**AN: Seriously how tf did so much dog food fit into that package, not to mention the Zwei-fastball special that Oobleck did. The only possible explanation is that Zwei is some form of nonsense-singularity.**

* * *

 

**0112**

**0112: Hunger. We should check up on how Nora’s doing after all the weirdness at the temple.**

**0112: You should check on Nora; this “Hunger” thing sounds ominous!**

**0112: NORA HUNGRY. GET FUD**.

You wake up just a few minutes after 6am, which is unusually early for you. Nora seems to have gone missing from her bed. You figure that she must have just decided to go and get an early breakfast. You get dressed quietly, so as not to disturb the others, and head down after her.

The dining hall is fairly empty at this time of the morning, so its easy to spot Nora sitting alone in the corner. She’s munching rapidly through a typical Nora-sized portion of bacon, eggs, beans, and toast. However, from her expression you can immediately tell that her heart is not in it. You temporarily forgo getting your own breakfast to go over and check on her.

“Hey Nora. Is there something wrong? You look really miserable.”  
  
Nora jumps slightly upon hearing you, having not noticed your approach. She rapidly replaces her gloomy expression with a smile that would possibly have fooled you if you hadn’t just witnessed how unhappy she actually was.

“I’m fine Rubes! Just a bit tired. Hey where are the others? Are they up yet?”

You’re not going to let her change the subject that easily. “Nora… There’s obviously something up. I’m your teammate, and your friend. If you have a problem, then we’ll deal with it together.”

Her expression slips back into gloom as she considers your words for a moment. After several long seconds, her head dips down, seemingly in surrender.  
  
”Ever since we came back from the mission, I’ve been feeling… hungry.”  
  
Oh that’s not good.

“No matter what I eat it never goes away.” She continues. “And I’ve been thinking about what that imp said, about how that vat of souls in the ruins only makes demons hungry… Well, it made me hungry too, and even though I’m away from it the hunger’s not stopping. I think I know what that means…” She looks at you with eyes filled with fear. “It got inside me didn’t it? The Spark managed to get inside me. I’m a demon… a monster…”

**How do you respond?**

**The number is 0113.**

 

* * *

 

**0113**

**0113: Pull her close into a hug and whisper, “We’re not monsters.” It might be time to come clean about our own inner demons.** ****

**0113: Firstly, hug Nora tightly while repeatedly reassuring her that no, she’s NOT a monster in ANY way. Then… you have to explain. Explain that you KNOW that the Spark is 100% dead, but… that it also managed to put the smallest possible piece of itself inside her before Ruby tackled it (cue Ruby guilt). Like a scraped off skin cell. But Nora is still 1000% Nora. The fragment can’t do anything; it has no will of its own. If she asks how you know… confess about WBY & OR. Nora’s your friend.**

**0113: “Nora, you’re no more a demon than I am.” And if she tries to say that you don’t have a demon in you, say “That vat made me hungry as well.”.**

**0113: First, fix the number in the end of the post. Second, assure Nora that she is still herself, and that she will always be herself, and no demon will ever change that. That she still sees herself as Nora, therefore she is Nora**

You try to go to hug her, but she recoils.

“Get away from me,” she says fearfully. “I’m scared that I might… I might…”

“You’re not going to do anything,” you say in the calmest tone you can muster. “You’re not a monster, you’re Nora.”

“But I am a demon, aren’t I?” She says, with a hysterical, fearful, giggle. “A bit of The Spark did get into me, didn’t it?”

“It might have…” You admit, Guilt presses down on you like a lead weight, as you wish that you could have been just a little bit faster that day. “But, that absolutely does not make you a monster!”

“How do you know?”

“Because… the vat made me hungry too.”

Nora looks absolutely stunned. “W… what?”

With that you let her know the full story about Weiss, Yang, Blake, and the other Ruby. You tell her about how you met them. You tell her about who they were as humans. You tell her about what really happened to The Spark. All the while Nora listens in absolutely stunned silence.

“And… you didn’t tell us,” she says as you finish. “All this time, and you didn’t tell us.”

“I couldn’t…” Is all you can say in response.

You can’t tell if Nora accepts your answer or not.

“So… what do we do now?” She asks. “Do we tell the others?”  
  
Suddenly, before you can answer her, the school intercom blares to life.  
  
”Would Ruby Rose please report to the Headmaster’s office immediately!”

This is not a good time, but its probably pretty urgent.

**Do you bring Nora with you, or let her go back to the dorm alone?**

**The number is 0114.**

* * *

 

**0114**

**0114: Ask Nora what she wants to do. If she wants some time alone, you can give it to her; if she wants someone beside her, holding her hand the entire time, you’ll argue with Ozpin for as long as you have to.**

**0114: Why not ask? Ask Nora whether she wants to stick around with you for support or go to the dorm to mull over the revelations. Either way, you can both decide together whether you want to tell Pyrrha and Ren about both of your Things after you finish with this summons from the headmaster.**

**0114: “immediately” more like “in a few minutes.” walk Nora back to the dorms, make sure she’s okay, and then go to the headmaster’s office. Whatever this is won’t end the world if you’re 15 minutes late.**

“Nora I’m going to need to go over there. Do you want to come with me?”  
  
She shakes her head listlessly. Everything seems to have been a bit much for her, and so she appears to have retreated in on herself.

“Do you want to go back to the dorm?”  
  
She nods.

“Do you want me to take you there?”  
  
Another nod.

You get up out of your seat and take her hand. She follows behind you in an almost lifeless manner as you lead her through the school’s corridors. Has she been feeling this way ever since you got back from the mission? You curse yourself for not noticing sooner.

As you arrive at the door to your dorm room, you turn to speak to Nora. “If you want to tell Ren and Pyrrha about… everything, then we’ll do it, but can you wait until I get back from Ozpin’s office?”  
  
She hesitates for a moment, then nods again.

You knock on the door, and its answered by a sleepy looking Ren. He wakes up quickly when he see’s the state that Nora’s in.

”Nora!? What’s wrong? What happened?” He exclaims, having completely lost his cool for what may well be the first time since you met him.

“She’s going through a really rough time,” you answer for her. “We’ll talk about it later after…” The intercom blares to life and calls for your presence once again. “…that.”

Ren nods in acknowledgement, and guides Nora inside. You begin dashing off towards the headmasters office, all the while praying that Ren knows something that will help her feel just a bit better.

As you arrive at the office, you find Miss Goodwitch standing in front of it. She looks impatient, but not quite angry.

”I don’t suppose you have a reason for your tardiness?” She asks.

“Sorry Miss Goodwitch. Nora’s going through a really rough time, and I needed to help her get back to the dorm.”

Her expression immediately softens. “I see… I’m very sorry to hear that. Please come inside.”

Ozpin is sitting at his desk. His expression is grim.

“I wish I could say that it is good that you finally joined us Miss Rose, but I’m afraid that I have some very bad news, the kind that never gets any easier to deliver despite the fact that I have had to do so many times before.” He takes a deep breath, as if to steel himself for what is about to come next. “We have completely lost contact with your father while he was out in the field. Evidence seems to suggest that he has either been captured or is… gone.”

His words hit you like a sledgehammer to the chest.

**What do you do/say now?**

**The number is 0115**

* * *

 

**0115**

**0115: um. this isnt great. where was he when they lost contact, i guess? and then maybe just. go be with your team that sounds good. hugs are probably a good way to go** ****

**0115: “When did you lose contact? Where?” ask the obvious questions first. Don’t panic. He might have just broken his scroll or something. Okay, fine, don’t panic *yet.***

**0115: You sit quietly for half a minute or so, completely shell-shocked and blindsided. Then you jump up and fire questions rapidly and desperately at the Headmaster. You dad can’t be gone too; he can’t be!** ****

**0115: Remain calm, at this point there is nothing we can do to help our father. Going after him will likely either result in our death or capture. Let’s ask Ozpin if there anything he can tell us about what Tai was doing before he went missing.**

A little voice in the back of your mind tries to tell you to stay calm, but that’s no longer possible. Your dad is missing. Your dad might be dead. How could you ever stay calm in a situation like this?

For a full minute, you just stand there, reeling from the information that you just received, before exploding with a barrage of questions.

“Where did you lose him? HOW did you lose him? What was he doing? Tell me! TELL ME!”

Ozpin does not appear phased by your outburst “Miss Rose, please try to stay calm. Take a seat, and I will answer all your questions.”

You walk over and sit in the chair in front of his desk, all the while holding on to your anger. Irrational though it may be, it’s the least painful emotion that you could be feeling right now.

Ozpin begins his explanation. “Your father was on a solo mission, trying to track down the origins of the ritual vessel used in your ritual.” He raises a hand pre-emptively, to stop your ‘WHY WAS HE ALONE?’ outburst. “He insisted that he perform the mission himself, as he believed that, because of the recent turmoil, using two hunters for a simple scouting mission was just a unacceptable waste of human resources. I am ashamed to say that I supported this decision.”  
  
He takes a sip of coffee from the mug on his desk, before continuing. “He was near the border between Vale and Mistral when we lost contact. He sent a message informing us that he would be going silent, before switching off all communicative devices. We do not know why he did so, but he did at least take the precaution of setting up a distress signal to go off in thirty minutes if he did not restore contact in that time.”  
  
He shakes his head sadly. “Thirty minutes later, the signal went off, but it marked his location as northern Vacuo, on the other side of the world from his previous known location. When the signal was investigated, we discovered that the equipment that he had brought on the mission had been discarded there, including his gauntlets.”

That last part disturbed you more than anything else before it. Dad loved his gauntlets almost as much as you love Crescent Rose. The fact that he had been separated was indeed a terrible sign.

“When we investigated his last known location, we found signs of an enormous struggle, and large quantities of blood, which was revealed by testing to be Taiyang’s. We did not find a body, but… I fear the worst.”

The room swims around you, and you feel like you’re drowning. You think… that you’re going to faint.

**What do you do?**

  * Allow yourself the sweet release of unconsciousness
  * Try to pull yourself together



**The number is 0116**


	29. 0116 => 0120

**0116**

**0116: normally, fainting would be a perfectly acceptable reaction here. but nora is still waiting at the dorm, counting on you to be the calm and collected one. you gotta pull yourself together, that’s what a good team leader would do, right?**

**0116: Come now, Ruby, you’re a tough cookie, and you can tough it out. Pull yourself together! Once this is over, go to your team, tell them what happened and have a cuddle session with Nora, or something.**

**0116: Try to keep yourself together. Your dad might need you, Nora definitely needs you, and you’ll need to tell Yang. Ask Ozpin if there’s anything you can do.**

You take a series of deep breaths until the room stops swimming. You still feel sick, both physically and mentally, but you don’t think that you’re going to pass out for the time being.

You’re a huntress. As terrible as it may be, this is unlikely to be the last time you receive news like this, and you’re going to have to be strong when it does happen. Besides, you don’t know for sure that Dad is dead. You decide to cling to that small spark of hope.

“You’re looking for him… right?” You ask.

“Of course. Until we confirm his fate, we shall not give up.” Ozpin responds. “Besides, this incident has moved the investigation into the source of the ritual vessel high up our list of priorities. Taiyang was one of the finest hunter’s alive. Even if he was alone, no ordinary opponent would be capable of defeating him. In addition, the fact that his assailant was able to transport his equipment across the globe within that thirty minute time span is utterly unheard of. Either they were capable of unbelievable speed, or the equipment was teleported.”

“Is teleportation difficult?”

“Yes. Demons with teleportation powers are rare, artifacts with such powers are rarer, and individuals capable of using them are one in a million. The most skilled teleportation user I ever knew, equipped with the most powerful artifact known to us, was able to travel a maximum distance of three hundred and seventy four metres in one warp. Never in recorded history has anyone managed more than that. The fact that your father’s assailant, or someone working with them, could teleport objects thousands of kilometres means that he could have been taken anywhere in the world. Consequently, locating him will be difficult.”  
  
Your nails dig into your palms as you clench your fists. ”Is there anything I can do to help?”  
  
Ozpin shakes his head. “You are a student Miss Rose, a very capable student certainly, but a student nonetheless. We told you all this because it was your right to know, not so that you would do something reckless. We have made arrangements for your sister to be taken care of, long term ones if necessary. So at the very least you will not have to worry about that. I have also taken the liberty of exempting you from lessons for the foreseeable future. I am aware of how much of a shock this must all have been, and so you may take all the time you need to recover. Do try to keep busy though, it is never a good thing to dwell on something like this for too long.”  
  
You slowly nod in acknowledgement, and move to exit the room, sensing that the conversation was over. On your way out Miss Goodwitch offers to lead you back to the dorm, but you decline as politely as you are currently able.

As you walk back to your dorm, you realise that you must be feeling the exact same way that Nora is feeling right now, or at least something very similar to it. Your entire body feels like lead, and colours and sounds are muted. You are dimly aware of Blake and Weiss trying to comfort you, which reminds you of the fact that you still have to break the news to Yang, as you left her and Crescent Rose back in the dorm.

As you get to the door of the dorm, you wonder how you’re going to handle this.

**What do you do?**

  * Tell your teammates and Yang about what happened to your dad
  * Try and help Nora deal with her problem first



**The number is 0117.**

* * *

 

**0117**

**0117: You hear the Halo theme playing faintly. This situation does not warrant action music though, and you feel vaguely annoyed by this fact. Alas, now it is stuck in your head. A soldier somewhere sheds a silent tear.**

This is an extremely inappropriate soundtrack for the current circumstances. [You attempt to get the song out of your head, but just end up thinking of something worse.](http://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DuZS0WIQI7UU&t=MzQ0MzI1MTRiNTFkZTIzZjk1YzVmY2U5ZTgwYTNiMzlmOTZiNzA1NyxkT1cxbENLRw%3D%3D&b=t%3ATeGjzD0tTjQ_RSFtNgZQ8A&p=http%3A%2F%2Ftherubyritual.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F149975616985%2F0117&m=1)

**0117: Nora should be your priority for now. Protect those in front of you, that’s what Yang and your dad would do as well.**

**0117: Focus on Nora. You feel guilty already for not noticing her problem earlier; you’re not gonna hold it off anymore. If they ask what happened, tell them the truth; it’s… bad, but it can wait until after you all have this conversation first.**

**0117: Help Nora first. Yang doesn’t know and it can wait for now. Just make sure Weiss and Blake don’t tell Yang.**

“We can’t do anything about my dad at the moment, so I’m going to focus on helping Nora,” you tell Weiss and Blake. “Don’t tell Yang about dad yet.”

You take a moment to wipe the miserable expression off your face, as knowing Nora she’d decide that her own depression is a less pressing issue than your unhappiness, and you really don’t want that, before entering the room.  
  
”How did it go?” Pyrrha asks, as you walk in.

“Nora’s more important,” you respond. “How is she doing?”

“Bit better.” You hear Nora say quietly. She’s sitting over on her bed, drinking a mug of hot chocolate. She doesn’t really look any better to you, but you decide to take her word for it.

”She said that she didn’t want to talk about it until you got back.” Says Ren.

“Well, I’m here now. Nora, do you want to tell them what’s going on?”  
  
Nora hesitates for a moment, and then begins her explanation about the fragment of The Spark within her, as well as the hunger that she’s feeling. Pyrrha is left absolutely dumbstruck, and the shock makes Ren unsteady on his feet, forcing him to sit down.

“If… if this gets out…” Pyrrha stammers. “What will happen to her?”  
  
Ren’s voice shakes as he responds. ”Normally, when someone is unwillingly put into this kind of situation, they’re quarantined from society for the rest of their lives unless a solution can be found. But… in Nora’s case, because of the hunger she feels, and the fact that it was The Spark that invaded her, she might be classified a threat to society and…” He doesn’t finish the sentence.

“In that case, we’ll just have to find a solution on our own!” You declare.

After a moment’s hesitation, Pyrrha and Ren both nod in agreement.

Nora then looks at you, as if she’s expecting you to say something…

**What do you do?**

  * Come clean to Ren and Pyrrha about Weiss, Blake, Yang, and the other Ruby
  * Dodge doing the above by telling them about what happened to your dad
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0118.**

* * *

 

**0118**

**0118: Come clean about everything. No matter what happens or how your teammates react, be relieved. Keeping it from them all this time has been really painful for you as well.** ****

**118: Come clean to them. We told Nora we would, and if you can’t trust your friends, who can you trust?**

**0118: Come clean about Weiss, Blake, Yang, and the other Ruby. You already told Nora, and she might give you a shifty look if you avoid telling Ren and Pyrrha.**

You take a deep breath to steel yourself. Its time to come out of the demonic closet.

“Guys… There’s something more I need to tell you all.”

With that you tell them everything that you had been keeping from them all this time. As you do, it feels like a weight has been lifted from your chest, and then promptly replaced with a new one as you worry about how Ren and Pyrrha will react to all of this.

“I… I really don’t know how to feel about all of this…” Stammers Ren, as you finish your explanation.

“If it weren’t for her, and the demons, we would have all died to The Spark,” adds Nora, coming to your defence.

“I guess you’re right…” Ren concedes. “But, I’m still worried about that other Ruby inside of you. She sounds like trouble.”

“I wish that you had told us sooner, but… I suppose I understand why you didn’t.” Says Pyrrha.

Its clear that they will need more time to fully let all of this sink in.

***Ren and Pyrrha’s trust in you has been shaken somewhat. –500 for both***

**0118: Don’t just ignore one side of the equation here. Tell your team about both your inner demons (the other Ruby included) and Taiyang. Then open the floor for Pyrrha and Ren; see if they’ve got anything going on that you could solve together, as a team. That’s what teammates are for, right?**

You decide to just get everything over with now.

“Guys… There’s more I have to tell you all.”  
  
You recount what happened in the office. To say the least, your teammates are horrified by the news.

Yang utterly silent as you tell everyone about what happened to your father. When you are done, she finally speaks, her voice shaking with sadness and rage.

“Ruby… We’re not just going to sit here right? We’re going to try to track the bastards who did this down… Right?”

**How do you respond?**

  * Yes, we are
  * No, we’re not



**The number is 0119.**

* * *

 

**0119**

**0119: Yes, but not now. Whatever took down Taiyang, one of the best hunters in the world, would easily wipe the floor with us. No matter how much we want to go after them right now, we can’t. Instead we throw ourselves into our training to get as strong as possible, while looking for any leads. Hopefully we’ll be able to find something. Also ask Phil to look into demons that know how to teleport. We must use every resource we have.** ****

**0119: Clarify, we *will*. At the moment, we don’t know enough to even begin searching. If they can teleport, then going to the site might yield little. We should find more information and in the meantime, try to help Nora. If she’s still hungry, see if she can drain a battery to satiate the hunger.**

**0119: Although it might be frustrating, at the end of the day you are just four students that have had a few lucky breaks. There really isn’t a whole lot you can do, so until you know more about the situation, don’t do anything. That said, keep an ear on the grapevine for anything that might be useful. When you have more information, that’s when you should consider acting.**

“…I’d like to Yang, but we have no idea where to start.”  
  
”I do!” She responds immediately. “The bartender at this club over in the seedy side of town is an information broker. I went to meet him once, and basically wrecked the place because he was an asshole. As long as you don’t mention that you and I are related, he should be willing to talk to you.”

“Wait, hold on! Are you seriously going to do something as reckless as that?” Pyrrha objects.

“Its not as if I’m going to storm some enemy stronghold, I’m just going to gather some information,” you respond.

Pyrrha does not seem reassured.

In any case, if you’re going to look for information you should think about all your options. This broker will probably give good and accurate information, but you doubt that it will be for free.

You doubt that you will be able to meet with Ozpin again, as he is perpetually busy, but Miss Goodwitch will be more accessible. She probably knows all the important details about your dad’s disappearance, but you’ll have to be careful while questioning her so she doesn’t figure out what you’re up to.

Uncle Qrow might also know something, and will probably be more open. However, as reckless and irresponsible as he may be at times, you doubt that he’ll allow you to do anything rash.

You have the contact details of Dr Fredricks. Perhaps he could find a way to track down the teleporter.

The reporter you once met, Rook, possibly could provide some useful information, as he would have his ear to the ground looking for any stories. Given that he owes you for the interview, he’ll probably be open about what he has, and ask fewer questions.

Finally there’s Winter. You doubt that she’ll know much about the incident with your dad herself, but she might be able to use any connections she has to dig something up. Despite her current mixed feelings about you, she is unlikely to not want to help you given the circumstances.

**Who do you pick?**

  * The information broker
  * Miss Goodwitch
  * Uncle Qrow
  * Dr Fredricks
  * Rook
  * Winter
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0120.**

* * *

 

**0120**

**0120 We should go ask Uncle Qrow, he’s a super secret spy scout & if anyone’s got a lead it’s him right?**

**120: Let’s ask Uncle Qrow! He’s an expert in gathering information, so why not?**

**0120: UNCLE QROOOOOOOOOOOOOW *latches onto arm***

You pull out your scroll and call Uncle Qrow. He takes his time before picking up.

“Hi Uncle Qrow! I was wondering if…”  
  
”Let me guess,” he cuts in, “you want to know the details of Tai’s disappearance so that you can stage an amateur rescue mission.”

“Well… yeah, but I was just going to try and get some information about the whole thing first. How did you guess?”

“Because you’re your mothers daughter, and she’d do the exact same thing.” You hear him sigh. “Back when we were students, she’d never let us just sit back and allow the professionals to handle a problem, even when we really should’ve. It got us into trouble more times than I can count, and I’m pretty sure its at least 35% of the reason why I drink.”

“So… you’re not going to help?”

“It depends. If I say no, are you going to carry on with this investigation of yours anyway?”  
  
”Probably.” You admit.

“In that case I guess I’ve got no choice. I’ll take you to the site of his disappearance, and tell you everything that we’ve pieced together so far. Will that satisfy you?”  
  
“I… guess so.” You’ll only really be satisfied when dad is home safe, but you suppose this is a good start.

“Good. There are two conditions to this. First, you stick with me the entire time. Secondly, in the unlikely event that you do figure something out that we haven’t yet, you tell me immediately. Taiyang wouldn’t want you going off and doing anything that could get you killed. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Good! I’ll meet you at the bullhead docks in two hours. Don’t be late.” He hangs up.

You put your scroll away, and then tell your teammates where you’re going to go.

”Do you want us to come with you?” Asks Pyrrha.

**Do you?**

  * Yes, having the support of your teammates is never a bad thing
  * No, this is a personal problem. It would be wrong to drag them into it.



**The number is 0121.**


	30. 0121 => 0130

 

**0121**

**0121: You would love to have them with you… but ask them only if they want to.**

**0121: Ask them if they want to go with you. Don’t force them into anything they may not want to get involved in.**

**0121: It should be up to them. If they want to come let them, if not then let them be.**

“I’d be happy to have you guys come with, but I wouldn’t want to force you…”

“We’re going.” Nora states bluntly.

“Are you sure you want to…”

“Going!” She snaps again, before dragging Ren out the door by his collar. You have to remind her that you won’t be leaving for another two hours…

* * *

Uncle Qrow cocks one eyebrow upwards when he sees the fact that you’re bringing your teammates with you, but voices no complaints. To the untrained observer, he would look remarkably calm for someone who may have just lost one of their best friends, but the fact that he’s more sober than you’ve ever seen him indicates that Taiyang’s disappearance has had a major effect on him.

When you open your mouth to ask him what he has to tell you, he holds up a hand to stop you.

“Save your questions for later, it’ll be easier to explain everything when we get to the site of the incident.”

You all board the bullhead, and settle in as it takes off. Uncle Qrow falls asleep almost immediately, snoring obnoxiously. Its going to be a few hours before you arrive at the border.

Pyrrha and Ren look tense, whereas Nora has a grim determination etched into her face (which you guess is better than her earlier depression, but you doubt that those feelings have gone away).

**What do you do?**

  * Have a nap, and encourage the others to do the same
  * Talk with your teammates for a while (please specify conversation topic/questions/etc)



**The number is 0122.**

* * *

 

**0122**

**0122: Firstly, put a hand on Nora’s shoulder and squeeze lightly. Smile at her knowingly, silently reassuring her that you’ll be there for her; you’ll figure things out. Then hug the three of them tightly with your mighty tiny arms; you gotta express your gratitude to them! You know that this could go badly, and that they’re taking a huge risk with helping you. Just… “thank you”.**

**0112: First order of business is for a group hug. Whenever Yang or Tai were sad, you remember that hugs made things better. Not perfect, but better in the fact you had someone to care about you. “Now, I know there’s a bit of distrust in the team right now, but we’re a team. We’re here for each other in times of need. So, thanks for coming with me.”**

Hugs are currently impossible on account of the fact that you are all currently buckled into your seats, but you do reach out and give Nora a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“Thanks for coming with me guys,” you tell everyone. “I know that things are a bit hard right now with… everything that happened this morning, so I really appreciate all of this.”

“Its no problem Ruby,” Ren responds solemnly. “I know what its like to… I know how you’re feeling right now.”  
  
”Besides, we hardly could have just relaxed back at Beacon while you were off investigating,” adds Pyrrha.

“And Nora,” you continue, “I promise we’ll deal with your… problem as soon as we can, ok?”

“…Thanks Ruby,” Nora quietly responds.

**0122: Let’s take a nap. You all need a bit of time to release a bit of tension from everything that has happened.**

**0122: You can’t really talk about the elephant in the room with Qrow here. Best to get some sleep and be well-rested for whatever’s up next. Might even be able to pick Overlord’s brain a little, depending.**  
  
You reach in to your backpack and give Zwei (you weren’t gonna just leave him at the dorm alone) a quick scratch behind the ear as you settle down to sleep…

…Once again you wake up alone in the snow-covered forest.

**What do you do?**

  * Head for the graveyard
  * Head for home
  * Call out for the other Ruby



**The number is 0123.**

* * *

 

**0123**

**0123: Let’s head home. A reprieve for your mind is something that’s sorely needed.** ****

**0123: Head for home. You should see as much of this mental world as you can. It might be helpful.**

**0123: Head home, since you didn’t go that way last time. Perhaps you’ll bump into your hot identical twin demon on the way to… Wherever that path goes. Happily tell her that you want her to make friends since people you trust actually know she exists! No good to stay cooped up with the same people all the time, right? Especially since they’re, you know, yourself.**

Home. That seems like a nice place to be right now.

Of course, you are making a pretty big assumption that heading the same direction that would take you towards home in the real world would take you to the same place here, but there’s no real point to worrying about that.  
  
As you begin trudging towards your destination small shadows flit around you in the distance, same as last time. The dark parts of your soul are always watching, but too weak and pathetic to be able to touch you. All the same, you hold Crescent Rose at the ready just in case one of them tries something.

You walk for what feels like hours, but might have actually only been a few minutes, before you realise that something is very wrong. The shadows that had been following you all this time are nowhere to be seen. They might have been creepy, but you feel far more unnerved by their absence, than you ever were by their presence.

Then you notice her, about one hundred metres off into the distance. Another Ruby, this one identical to you in every way, save for the fact that her hood is up, casting a shadow over her face. She even holds an identical Crescent Rose at the ready.

It doesn’t take you more than a second to realise that this is the part of you that the other Ruby warned you about; The Huntress.

Ok this is it! If what the other Ruby said was true, you probably aren’t going to win this fight, but that is no reason not to try your best! Of course, its going to be kind of difficult with your legs lying several feet away from you over there.

…Wait what.

Before your brain could even register the fact that the battle had begun, The Huntress crossed the distance between you, and sliced you clean in half at the waist. Rose petals drift slowly to the ground, having been left behind in her wake. The cut was so instantaneous, that you don’t even feel the pain, just a slow, horrible numbness creeping up your body as your blood drains out onto the snow.

The huntress casually raises her scythe to make the finishing blow. The last thing you see before it cleaves through your skull are her eyes; gold as god’s blood.

* * *

You awake in the rose-field. The other Ruby is standing over you, giggling.

“Looks like you had a run in with the huntress. I warned you that she’d getcha if you tried to head for the core of your soul.”

“…The core?” You mumble, confused. “But I was just trying to head for home…”  
  
 _”The core IS home you dummy! The place you hold the fondest memories of. The place you feel most comfortable in. What else could lie at the centre of your soul but that?”_

Huh… That does make a lot of sense now that you think about it. In any case, you’ve probably got a bit more time before you wake up.

**What now?**

**The number is 0124.**

* * *

 

**0124**

**0124: Quick! Gush over the Huntress! Let’s make Overlord jealous!**

Strangely enough you’re having a hard time gushing over someone who just sliced you in half.

**0124: You HAVE to know about the Huntress, and her eyes. They were the same color as Cknder’s….If what you think is true, and Cinder is….Huntress you reincarnate, you might have a problem.**

You ask her if the fact that the Huntress’ eyes and Cinder’s eyes are the same colour means that you’re Cinder’s reincarnation.

_“Unless time travel is involved and she’s from the future, which is a possibility I guess, she isn’t a reincarnation of ours. I’m not gonna say that it isn’t a weird coincidence though.”_

**0124: Ask if, given enough practice, you could dismember with that same level of efficiency.**

You ask if you’d be able to get that good at fighting one day.

_”I told you earlier, the huntress represents all of your potential skill. You’d probably need to use some demonic power to do the speed thing though…”_

**0124: Ask the other Ruby if she has any idea who ordered the huntress to guard your memories, or if there’s any way to get past the huntress.**

_“I have no clue who asked The Huntress to guard home, or why she would listen to anyone else’s orders. I don’t know how to get past her either, the fact that I haven’t already moved into the core is proof of that. Besides, even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.”_ She blows a petulant raspberry at you.

**0124 ask how she’s doing! Also, what does she think of the Castellum, it looks cool doesn’t it?**

_“Oh? You care about how I’m doing now? You didn’t seem to earlier when you went around blabbing about me to all of your friends…”_

Looks like she’s still bitter about that. You’re gonna have to figure out a way to make things up to her if you ever want to become friends.

 _“I will admit that the fortress is cool, for our first one at least. When I finally take over the universe I think I’m going to convert this entire planet into a huuuuuuge castle just for me.”_  
  
…That seems a bit excessive, not to mention poorly thought out. What would you even do with all the space in a planet-sized castle? Heck, a regular castle would be too much for you. However, you decide to not point out how childish and implausible her plans are to avoid upsetting her further.

**0124: The Huntress was pretty cool and badass. Ask if there’s any way you could be more like her~ Oh, and ask OR if she knows of anyone with a teleportation ability or counters to it.**

Her face screws up into an expression of deep concentration. _“We might have met someone like that in one of our past lives… But all my memories of them are too jumbled up to pin it down easily. Maybe you could try touching one of the graves, you might get lucky and see the right memory.”_

**0124: You could still visit the graveyard, you guess. Knowing more about your past lives is never bad; they could contain some interesting stuff! Although you’re still on alert to not ‘lose yourself’ as Overlord Ruby said.**

“Can you take me to the graveyard? I’m not sure how to get there from here.”  
  
She considers your request for a moment. _“Hmm… Alright! But only because we’re trying to save dad.”_

She grabs you by the hand, and breaks out into a run, tugging you along behind her. All around you, the scenery blurs, until you suddenly find yourself in the graveyard.

Once again, you feel the urge to touch one of the graves…

**Which one?  
**

  * The makeshift wooden marker
  * The grave of white marble
  * The normal, albeit extremely well tended to, gravestone
  * The spear, plunged into the ground
  * The crumbling monument
  * The skeletal wreckage of a burnt-out ship
  * The grave of your mother
  * None of them



**The number is 0125.**

* * *

 

**0125**

**0125: Touch the ship! See if you were a pirate before!**

**0125: Touch the skeleton of a ship… maybe in a past life you were a pirate… ay matey**

**0125: This ship. Maybe you were a pirate in a past life!**

**0125: Touch the ship. If nothing else, we can find out if you were once a pirate, and that’s always fun.**

You walk over to the ship, and slowly place your palm flat against it…

* * *

You were eight when the slavers came to your village.

Those that could fight, attempted to fend them off, but aside from a couple of hunters, there was no one who had any real training, and thus they were overrun in minutes. Your parents were slain in front of you, and you were kidnapped.

You were taken to a ship, bound for a continent far away. The bosun leered at you as you were taken on board. Never in your life did you feel more afraid and alone than that moment.

Before the ship left the harbour, the bosun brought the ship’s captain down to the hold to inspect ‘the cargo’. He was a relatively young man, early thirties at most, with a bushy red beard. He had clearly not been informed about the nature of the cargo of the ship he had been assigned to, as his face paled the moment he saw all of you crammed into such stinking quarters.

Until the day you died, you would never forget what came next. The captain took two steps into the hold, muttered “Bugger this,” and then proceeded to draw his cutlass and decapitate the bosun in one fluid blow.

He then led the captured slaves in taking over the ship. All of the slavers on the ship were either killed or thrown overboard. As soon as that was done, they weighed anchor and escaped the harbour.

Most of the captured people were let off the ship at the first opportunity, but you, along with several others, stayed on. After all, it wasn’t as if you had anything to go back to.

The captain was more than happy to take you under his wing. He taught you how to sail a ship, chart a course, and fight with blade and pistol. You and the crew roamed the sea as pirates; going wherever you pleased and taking whatever you wanted.

Nine years later, when you were seventeen, tragedy struck. During a battle with a merchant vessel, the captain died of a shot to the heart. The crew was thrown into disarray, and the battle almost lost, save for the fact that you were able to rally them to you and claim victory in a final desperate charge. After that, despite your young age, there was no question that you were the one who should take the captain’s place.

For many years you roamed the seas, until one day you met your match in the captain of a navy vessel that you fought off the coast of Vacuo. She was a stunning woman with autumn-red hair, and deep green eyes…

* * *

The other Ruby tugs you away from the ship. _“Alright, that’s long enough.”_  
  
”DANG IT!” You yell in frustration. “I was just getting to the good part.”

 _“Yeah well you know that its dangerous to stay like that for too long. Besides…”_ She glances pointedly at the burnt-out ship. _“…its pretty obvious how that particular life eventually ends. In any case, did you meet the teleporter?”_

You shake your head. “No, but I did see Pyrrha! Or at least someone who looked a lot like her.”

_“That’s not too surprising. People who meet in past lives tend to bump into one another from time to time.”_

***Remembering your meeting with Pyrrha in a past life has deepened the invisible bond between you and her. +200 points!***

You nod in response to her words as you think back over all you just saw. A bit of your old life has stayed with you. You doubt that you’ll ever need to sail an old-timey ship, but faint memory you have of your past life’s navigational skills might come in handy some day. You think you might have picked up a bit of skill with a sword. Not enough to make you an expert, or even particularly competent, but if you’re separated from Crescent Rose at any point and a sword is all that is available, you won’t be entirely helpless.

You begin to feel the fuzzy feeling that indicates that you’re about to wake up.

The other Ruby also seems to be aware that your time is running out. _“Before you go, I need to ask you a favour. When you get the chance, I need you to sneak into the headmaster’s office and find… a thing. Can you do that?”_  
  
”A thing? What are you talking about?  
  
“If I tell you exactly what it is then you’ll definately say no, but it will come in handy later. You’ll know it when you see it. So will you do it?”  
  
 **Will you?**

  * Yes
  * No



**The number is 0126.**

* * *

 

**0126**

**0126: Sure! Ozpin’s got lots of things, im sure he won’t miss one. Maybe this will help start patching things up with OR too, that would be nice.** ****

**0126: Yes, anything for our Overlord~ (no but really, we do owe her anyway)**

**0126: JUST DO IT!**

”Uhh… Sure I guess I can do that.” You respond.

The other Ruby’s grin widens. _“Perfect! But make sure you keep that promise. I’ll be very mad if you don’t!”_

With that, the bullhead touches down in the forest where your father disappeared and jolts you awake.

* * *

Most people consider the police to be a bunch or reject hunters. This isn’t entirely fair, as it is necessary to have someone to deal with the so-called “mundane” variety of crimes, as well as assisting with hunter cases that require more investigative work. Nevertheless, there is some truth to their reputation, as at least 70% of the police force were individuals who failed the entrance exams to hunter academies.

As a result of this, there is a large amount of enmity between the police and hunters, which goes a long way to explain the glares you received from the cops that are currently keeping watch over the scene of your dad’s disappearance.

One podgy-looking officer in particular does not even try to hide his distain for your uncle.

“Oh great it’s you again, and you brought the toddler brigade.”

Qrow sneers at him. “Each one of them is capable of bench pressing three of you, although at the rate you’re expanding that number might go down to two. In any case, move it tubby, we’re getting another look at the crime scene.

The cop face almost turns purple with rage. “I… am not… having a bunch of stupid kids tramp around my crime scene.”

“Yes well, I’m the one in charge of the investigation, not you, so you don’t have much of a choice lardass,” your uncle responds cheerfully.

For a moment, the cop looks like he’s about to try and hit Qrow, but seems to realise what a terrible idea that is at the last second.

“Fine. But only one of them. I don’t want them tramping around and destroying evidence.”

“Fair enough. Ruby, you come in with me. The rest of you can wait here.”

You and your uncle both duck under the police tape, and enter the crime scene. Immediately your eyes are drawn to the bloodstain in the middle of the clearing. The blood is dry, but clearly not yet old. The second thing you notice are the various smudged footprints that litter the clearing, as well as a set of tire tracks.

“Alright, let me give you a breakdown on everything that happened,” begins your uncle. “As you probably know, for the past few months your father has been trying to track down those demons that were almost bound to you.”

You struggle to maintain the innocent expression on your face.

“Unfortunately,” he continues, “their trail has gone cold, so he was forced to instead look into the patron of the cult that did the ritual in the first place. After ransacking the cult member’s houses, he found a receipt from a one-man delivery company. On the outside it seemed legitimate, but Tai had no other leads, so he started tailing the guy. For a few days it seemed like this was a dead end, until Tai followed him out here and… this happened. The delivery man himself has gone missing, and we have no idea what he might have been delivering at the time.”

“We obviously don’t know exactly what happened in this clearing, but I’ve pieced it together a little bit from the evidence. First, your father left his motorbike over there,” he points through the trees to the east. “Its still there if you want to take a look at it. Next he moved a little closer to the clearing, and watched what was going on from behind the trees. Eventually his cover was either blown, or he decided to blow it, and he jumped out and fired several shots from his gauntlets, as we can see over there, “he points to the shattered trees. “To this day I have no clue how his wrists could survive the recoil from those damn things. They make your sister’s shotguns look like BB pellets by comparison.”

“Wow, I’m definitely going to have to upgrade when I get my body back,” Yang comments.

“Finally, your father was defeated in a single blow with a bladed weapon, most likely a sword. We can say for sure that it was a bladed weapon, both because of the amount of blood, and because there is a small groove in the dirt next to the bloodstain, where his opponent’s blade cut into the ground. We can’t say for sure how many strong opponents he faced, but my gut instinct tells me that there was only one truly strong individual in the clearing at the time, alongside the delivery man and possibly a couple of other people.”

Qrow goes and leans back on a tree. “So there you have it, that’s all we know. Feel free to have a closer look at the crime scene. Don’t take too long though, since tubby might eventually grow a pair and kick us out.”

**What do you examine first? (You have two chances before the cop will eject you from the scene. Finding useful evidence will extend the amount of time you have, but not all options will bring results.)**

  * The bloodstain
  * The shattered trees
  * The tire tracks
  * The footprints
  * The forest to the north
  * Your father’s initial hiding spot
  * Your father’s motorcycle



**The number is 0127.**

* * *

 

**0127**

**0127: Investigate the footprints around the clearing. Aside from the footprints themselves, the assailants could have left some traces behind, especially in their hurry to react to your dad’s attack.**

**0127: Lets investigate the footprints first.**

**0127: examine the footprints.**

You examine the footprints in the clearing. Many of them are smudged, and they don’t create any particular trail, but from them you learn that there were three, maybe four, people in the clearing at the time aside from your dad.

One set of footprints is separate from the others, next to the shattered trees. From the direction, and how heavily each one was imprinted into the ground, you make an educated guess that they were made while the person in question was dodging your father’s attacks. This means that your father must have singled out this one person as a threat, and consequently tried to focus his attacks on them. The fact that he still lost despite this chills you to the bone.

Other than that, the footprints appear to have been made by someone who has, at the very least, the same weight and foot shape as a normal human, so it seems likely that your dad’s opponent wasn’t a demon. You can’t really figure out anything else from it.

You do feel like you fleshed out your knowledge of what happened here slightly, but you’ve failed to find any solid evidence.

You notice the police officer from earlier standing on the edge of the grove. He keeps checking his watch. You’d better find something useful quickly.

**What do you examine next? (You have one chance before the cop will eject you from the scene. Finding useful evidence will extend the amount of time you have, but not all options will bring results.)**

  * The bloodstain
  * The shattered trees
  * The tire tracks
  * The forest to the north
  * Your father’s initial hiding spot
  * Your father’s motorcycle



**The number is 0128.**

* * *

 

**0128**

**0128: The bloodstains!**

**0128 The bloodstain**

**0128 bloodstain.**

You squat down over the bloodstain to get a closer look at it. The thought that it was once all inside your dad causes bile to rise up in your throat, but you manage to swallow it down.

There doesn’t appear to be anything particularly odd about the stain itself. Its dry, but not old enough to be flaky. You see the groove where the assailant’s blade cut into the ground next to the stain, but otherwise nothing really jumps out at you.

“Hey uncle Qrow, was there anything weird about dad’s blood when you tested it?” You ask as you continue your examination. “Any poison or something like that?”  
  
”Thankfully, no. If there had been poison on top off all that lost blood, then I don’t think there would be any point to looking for him…”  
  
”Do you… think he’s alive.”  
  
”There’s no way in hell Tai would die like this,” he answers without hesitation. “Besides, I don’t see why his attacker would bother taking him with them if he were dead.”

You’re about to get up and admit defeat, when something catches your eye. You pull out a long strand of hair that was stuck in the blood. It’s either black or dark brown, although you can’t tell for sure due to all the blood that’s on it. Either way, its too long, and too dark, to have belonged to your father. Which means it may have belonged to his attacker.

”Hey uncle Qrow, I found a hair in the blood. Do you think it could have belonged to one of the killers? Could we DNA test it or something?”  
  
Your uncle walks over, takes the hair from you, and examines it carefully.

“Hmm… I’m not sure if it getting covered in Tai’s blood would mess with the results or not, and we’d need the person’s DNA to already be on the system. I’d say its worth a try though.” He turns to the cop. “Hey tubby! Get someone to send this to forensics for testing.”

The cop grinds his teeth in frustration, but complies. As you watch him walk off you breathe a sigh of relief. Whether you get anything out of this piece of evidence or not, you bought yourself a bit more time.

**What do you examine next? (You have two more chances).**

  * The shattered trees
  * The tire tracks
  * The forest to the north
  * Your father’s initial hiding spot
  * Your father’s motorcycle



**The number is 0129.**

* * *

 

**0129**

**0129: The forest of northern locale. Examine it.** ****

**0129: Examine the forest. It seems suspicious.**

**0129: Majestically run into the forest.**

You begin walking deeper into the forest, figuring that not all the evidence might necessarily be in the clearing itself.

“Hey kid! We already checked over there, it’s a waste of time,” the cop calls out.

“I think I’m going to double check anyway!” You shout back.

He scoffs. “Suit yourself.”

The forest is too dense for you to ‘majestically run’ through it, so instead you carefully pick your way through the trees, trying your hardest not to trip. You momentarily contemplate sending WBY out to help you look, but decide that it’s far too risky with your uncle around.

After walking through the forest for several minutes, you’re about to give up when you notice a fly buzzing around, then another, then another. You follow them to discover a fairly large number of them clustered over a nearby patch of ground. You shoo them off, and begin digging.

After clearing out barely an inch of soil, you begin to uncover a body. It appears to have once belonged to a middle aged man, who, from the patches of scales scattered across his skin, was some variety of reptile faunus.

You call out for Uncle Qrow, hoping that he can identify who this person was. He soon arrives with the cop in tow, and gives an impressed whistle when he sees the body.

“Well well well… It looks like you found the van driver. I guess they must have decided he was a liability after Tai managed to tail him. Still no sign of his van though.” He turns to the cop. “Didn’t you just say you searched this part of the forest? Missing a goddamn corpse is kind of a big deal.”  
  
”Well… I… Uh…” The cop splutters, trying to muster an adequate defence.

”Save it, or I’ll tell your bosses that a fifteen year old is five times better at your job than you.”  
  
The cop slinks away with his tail between his legs. Qrow chuckles and turns back to you.

“Good job in finding this. It doesn’t put us any closer to finding Taiyang, but I doubt you need to worry about the police breathing down your neck any more.”

**What do you check out next? (Time limit removed!)**

  * The shattered trees
  * The tire tracks
  * Your father’s motorcycle



**The number is 0130.**

* * *

 

**0130**

**0130: Lets check out the tire tracks now.** ****

**0130: Check out the tire tracks.**

**0130: The tire tracks!**

You start following the tire tracks of the dead delivery man’s van. They’re pretty clear in the mud, but cut off completely when they reach the road. Your uncle probably already knows what the van looks like, as well as its licence plate, given that your dad had been staking it out for a while before the incident, so you don’t think that you can learn anything more from the tracks themselves.

However, as you are walking back, you notice something sticking out of one of the tracks. You pull it out of the mud, and discover that its some sort of rosary. Someone, possibly one of the people involved in the incident, must have dropped it, before it was buried by the van running over it as it left. Its cheaply made, and has a plastic disk with a sun symbol attached to it. You take it to your uncle for identification.

“The sun is a pretty common symbol for cults,” Qrow explains as he looks the rosary over. “I can’t think of any one in particular that this might have came from…”

“I can!” The cop blurts out, clearly wanting to be useful after his earlier embarrassment. “There’s this faith healing group in a town about a mile from here. We inspected it a while back, and it was clean of any illegal activity at the time, but it has been getting quite a few new members recently…”

Qrow’s face breaks out into a huge grin. “If that’s true, then this is the best lead we’ve gotten so far. Give me your car keys, I’m going to check it out immediately.”

Qrow takes the keys from the cop, and you start to call your teammates to the car, but he turns around and stops you.

“No Ruby. You’ve done enough.”  
  
”What? But dad might be there! Not to mention that I will have dragged my teammates all the way out here for nothing!”

“You’ve been a huge help Ruby, but you should leave the rest to me. Get back in the bullhead with your team, and the pilot will take you back to Beacon.”

**What do you do?**

  * Put your foot down and demand that you and your teammates be allowed to go
  * Let Qrow handle this, and go back to Beacon
  * Other (please specify)



**The number is 0131.**

**Author's Note:**

> You can read the whole story up to the latest update, and send in commands for Ruby, at "http://therubyritual.tumblr.com/".


End file.
